CATHEDRAL BASILICA
Of the Sacred Heart, Newark, New Jersey

During the medieval times Christian faith fulfilled all parts of every day’s lives for men and women. Christianity was a way of actions and thoughts; it was difficult to have anyone think otherwise. The Cathedral Basilica is more that a structure built by man with beautiful features: in the words of the late Pope Paul IV; the secret of the cathedral is an expression of the unity of believers”. (Par 1). The commencement took place in 1859 and the construction was finished in 1954.

In 1853 the Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley decided that a bigger church was required since the places of worship in the area such as st. Patrick’s church was not big enough and masses were overcrowded. He envisioned a cathedral, simple and strong and decided to send Jeremiah O’Rourke to Europe to study the cathedrals during the 1870’s. The ground breaking actually took place in January of 1898. The laying of the first bricks was celebrated by a parade of men from every parish in the area.

This is a spiritual place that is surrounded by beautiful surroundings that included Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ. The basilica was designated a history site in 1974 in New Jersey and a National site in 1976. The cathedral architects were Jeremiah O’Rourke and Isaac E. Ditmars, their intention was to build a church with English and Irish gothic aesthetics on the exterior and the interior to reflect the catholic faith between Christ and the church.

By the time Jeremiah O’Rourke had designed the Cathedral Basilica of Newark he had thirty- five years of experience in his field. In his contract was included a 3.5% commission which was lower that the standard rate, he pledged “a labor of love” (Par.13). Once construction began Jeremiah O’Rourke developed friction with a general contractor E.M Waldron over cost and other details in regards to the constructions which caused delay and constructions to even stop at times. All this controversy led to the dismissal of Jeremiah O’Rourke on February 10, 1910.

Isaac E. Ditmars replaced Jeremiah O’Rourke, Isaac was a New York Architect he took over and supervised the construction of the column, and he also redesigned the church to since he was more inclined to build a structure that resembled the French Cathedral of Chatres. The design and architect changed several times as the years went by until the completion.

The constructions moved along slowly the archdiocese of Newark proceeded slowly and cautiously since they did not want to go into debt. So the cathedra was completed in phases, as the funds and the weather permitted it was build. Their were several construction companies involved and responsible for building different parts of the cathedral. The granite required to build the columns came from various granite companies and thirteen stonecutters were set to work on this in 1903. During the time of three years the towers which were 196” and the gable 145” rose, the columns had capitals and the towers gargoyles.

The construction of the roof took began in 1927 and took 600 tons of steel and iron was required for the beams. The windows were completed in 1923 with glass that is ¼” thick. During all these years construction of spiritual sculptures were in the works for the five entrances the cathedral Basilica had in its design. The main entrance illustrates the Sacred Heart which is over the double door entrance. In the East side is the relief medallion of Christ and to the West is Mary as dedication to them.

The interior work of the cathedral began, during the years of 1926 through 1928 a company called the Monaham Stone Col. Was contracted to work on the interior carvings of the cathedral, to give it a delicate look.

They began to use the Cathedral Basilica on May 1, 1928 even though it was still incomplete, the used the cathedral with temporary fixtures and altar in place.