c. 2006 Religion News Service

BALTIMORE _ The cradle of Catholic America needed some new life.

Completed in 1821, the Baltimore Basilica was home to councils and sessions that essentially created the American church, according to historians.

The neoclassical sanctuary witnessed the consecration of America’s first bishops, the development of the parochial school system and the commissioning of the Baltimore Catechism, which taught generations of Catholics the rules of the faith.

“The whole direction of Catholic life flowed through Baltimore at one time,” said the city’s archbishop, Cardinal William Keeler.

The first Catholic cathedral built in the U.S., the basilica has been visited by dignitaries of all stripes, including Pope John Paul II, President Andrew Johnson and Mother Teresa.

But after decades of decay and neglect, the basilica _ officially known as the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary _ had become too dark, too cold and too run-down.

Now, in time for the 200th anniversary of the laying of the basilica’s cornerstone, an army of architects, masons, historians, restoration artists and others have completed a two-year, $32 million renovation of the sacred site. The money was raised through private donations, according to Mark Potter, executive director of the Basilica Historic Trust.

“From the doorknob to the clock, everything in the church has been repaired, restored or replaced,” said Potter.

Keeler and others _ including the U.S. Army Fife and Drum Corps _ will celebrate the basilica’s reopening at a ceremony Saturday (Nov. 4). The celebration will continue through Nov. 12, when more than 200 U.S. Catholic bishops are expected to process through the basilica for a special Mass.

Commissioned more than two centuries ago by the first Catholic bishop in America, John Carroll, and designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, an architect of the U.S. Capitol, the basilica boasts a 140-foot-tall dome, twin Byzantine bell towers and an imposing classical portico.

Latrobe reportedly presented Carroll with two architectural plans: one neoclassical and the other Gothic. The churchman chose the neoclassical design, according to Potter, because he wanted to step away from the traditions of Catholic Europe and show that stateside Catholics were “as American as everybody else.”

Duncan Stroik, a professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame and editor of the journal Sacred Architecture, said the basilica is “one of the most important Catholic churches in the country.”

“It showed that American Catholics could build worthy and beautiful buildings,” Stroik said.

Researchers and artisans have restored the main floor of the basilica to how it looked in 1821, when the nation’s first Catholics filled the pews, according to Potter. Builders found the original balcony floor where African Americans worshipped, separated from white Catholics. The bishop’s chair, first used by Carroll, was brought up from the basement.

The historic trust has also added a new chapel and a museum featuring elements of the Baltimore archdiocese’s 217-year history in the basilica’s undercroft, or lower level.

But the sacred site’s most striking feature, according to Keeler, is the “lumiere mysterieuse” (mysterious light) that flows through the newly reopened skylights above the altar. Casting beams on the gleaming marble floor, the ornate altar and the restored paintings of Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the sunlight “has such a marvelous impact,” the cardinal said.

“It’s got a particular brightness and openness to it,” Keeler said.

KRE/PH END BURKE

Editors: To obtain photos of the Baltimore Basilica, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.