Athlone's St Mary's is now a cathedral

St Mary’s Church in Athlone has been upgraded to a Cathedral, on a temporary basis. At a Mass in the Church on Sunday last it was announced that it would now act as the “interim Cathedral” for the Ardagh and Clonmacnois Diocese while work is carried out to restore St Mel’s Cathedral. The Longford building was destroyed by fire last December and Bishop Colm O’Reilly said this week that it would be approximately four years before the Cathedral would reopen. Speaking to the Westmeath Independent, Bishop O’Reilly stated that St Mary’s was the Church best suited to serve as a Cathedral in the absence of St Mel’s. “Losing St Mel’s was a double loss in the sense that it served as a parish church and as a Diocesan institution. We were able to make alternative arrangements for the parish church, when a replacement was found last February, but we had to find an alternative place for occasions of Diocesan importance. “I felt that St Mary’s in Athlone was best suited to serving that purpose,” he said. The Bishop explained that occasions such as the blessing of oils during Holy Week in Easter would now take place at St Mary’s, “along with other events of Diocesan interest and importance.” He added that a long-serving Bishop’s chair, which had been used at St Mel’s Cathedral from 1890 to 1975, and which avoided damage in the fire because it had been moved to his residence, would be relocated to St Mary’s Church in November. “The chair is a link with the past. I expect that it will be relocated to St Mary’s for the first Sunday of Advent this year, and we will have a ceremony for that,” he said. Discussing the renovation work at St Mel’s, Bishop O’Reilly stated that the walls of the Cathedral had been secured and a temporary roof had been erected. Much of the work over the coming year would involve a design team drawing up plans for the new interior of the building, he said. Bishop O’Reilly confirmed in May that his resignation on age grounds had been accepted by Pope Benedict. He said this week that his position as the acting Bishop for the Diocese would remain unchanged until his successor was appointed, and he didn’t know when that would be.