The year 1903 was a momentous one in the history of the parish of Saint Cecilia as well as for the people of the diocese. First of all the ten-year lease for Saint Cecilia’s church on Hamilton street had expired in 1898, and now there was only a verbal agreement extending the lease. The property, sold by the Taggarts in 1896 to William Stein, put the rights of the parish on shaky grounds. When difficulty arose between the Church authorities and Mr. Stein, it was decided, by mutual agreement, to move the structure to church property on fortieth street.

It was also the year of 1903 that Bishop Scannell announced that the fortieth street location would become the site of the new cathedral. According to the Bishop, it was an excellent choice, for the hill on fortieth street was one of the highest points in the city and would give the proposed cathedral a commanding position overlooking the city. The majority of the clergy and people, however, did not favor the location because they said it was “too far out”. The cathedral, which was to serve all, should be available to all, not “out in the country”.

Nevertheless Bishop Scannell held out for the Fortieth and Burt street site; and, within a matter of months the plans for the new cathedral were taking shape.

Thomas Rogers Kimball, a local architect, sought the contract to design the building and a cathedral building board, consisting of the Bishop, Very Rev. A.M. Colaneri, Count John A. Creighton,  and Messrs. F.A. Nash, T.J. Mahoney, Frank J. Burkley, T.C. Byrne, Francis Murphy and C.J. Smith, was formed.

Many hours were spent by the building committee and Mr. Kimball going over the detailed plans. Finally, in May 1904, the committee gave its stamp of approval. On Easter Monday, April 24, the general construction contract was awarded to William P. Deverell, and the contract for the stonework was given to the Albert Schall Company.

Buried in the local news columns of the True Voice of May 12, 1905, were these words:  “The work of excavating for the new cathedral at Fortieth and Burt streets began this week. A large force of men are employed on the work which will require some time yet”.

No headline . .  no groundbreaking ceremony . .  . It just started!

Two years after the ground had been broken, the foundation was completed. The walls were brought up to the level for the main floor and it was time to lay the cornerstone. Sunday, October 6, 1907, was the day set aside for the occasion and no detail was left undone to make the event the most memorable, the most outstanding, and the most unique in the history of the Church in Nebraska.

Newspaper headlines of the day read: “Saint Cecilia’s Cathedral reverently consecrated in the presence of 30,000 people” . . . “10,000 people march in the parade.”

From the World-Herald, “It was a magnificent and imposing army of men, that which marched over the hot pavements from downtown yesterday to the new Saint Cecilia’s Cathedral as a preliminary to the cornerstone laying exercises. It was the greatest religious demonstration of that character which Omaha has ever witnessed or ever may witness. The parade was composed of a body of men two miles long marching six abreast. It was formed on Farnam street between seventeenth and twentieth. As an instance of its length, the head of the procession turned the corner at Thirty-ninth and Davenport streets just as the last body of men which had been standing at rest on twentieth, wheeled into line and took up the sweltering two-mile march.

“One of the most interesting features was the strictly civilian character of the parade. While a few bodies wore the uniform of some society and a few others gave a distinctness to their sections by wearing belts, caps or badges of a uniform in character, the parade as a whole gave the appearance of a great gathering of every-day, middle-class prosperous American citizens. Those who witnessed the parade and made any attempt to estimate its numbers think 10,000 a not too extravagant guess.”

The World-Herald article continues . . . “Each parish and church society carried at its head a banner designating it, and each division of the parade was preceded by a band. The line of march was from Twentieth street on Farnam to Thirty-ninth, thence to fortieth and then directly to the Cathedral. People lined the streets all along the route and comments on the splendid showing were not infrequent.

“At the head of the procession rode a platoon of mounted policemen under the charge of Chief Donahue and Sergeant Hayes. Immediately following were the Knights of Columbus, the Omaha and Council Bluffs lodges, making a total of more than four hundred men.

“The management of the parade was so thoroughly systemized that there wasn’t a hitch in the plans for the formation of the line to the final dispersion of the great civilian forces. As fast as a body of marchers appeared at the rendezvous, it was assigned a position on one of the side streets near Farnam and held there in march formation until its turn. J.A.C. Kennedy, marshall of the day, had as his aids, W.A. Schall, assistant marshall, T.F. Swift, Arthur Coad, A.E. Melady, Dr. F.J. Langdon, Charles Garvey, William Beahr, William Donahue and Fred Hermank.

“As the van approached the new cathedral, the clergy and choir, which had been stationed at the Saint Cecilia parochial school, marched to the reviewing stand. The choir led the way, followed by the monsignors, local and visiting bishops and archdeacons in the ecclesiastical robes. Each bishop had as excort two priests, while the archbishops were accompanied by the lay chairmen of the committee.

“A small stand had been erected for the bishops and archbishops at the Fortieth and Burt corner of the cathedral (near the spot where the altar of the church would stand), and it was from there they reviewed the procession as it rounded the corner and marched to the east end of the new structure where the exercises were held.

“As the marchers approached the reviewing stand they uncovered and remained so until ten feet beyond as a salute to the church dignitaries. From the reviewing stand the procession proceeded to a great vacant common, which had been reserved for them in front of the speakers’ platform where they stood at rest during the ceremonies. The aides and banner carriers were grouped to one side on the platform in a space reserved for them and made a billiant bank of color with all the miltitude of variously tinted flags which they carried.

“The South Omaha societies and parishes marched all the way in and sent up a body of men numbering between 2,700 and 3,000. For the most part they were grouped in one section in the parade.

“Acting as guard of honor to the bishop and his assistants during the ceremonies were eight fourth-degree members of the Knights of Columbus. They were in full dress, earing red, white and gold sashes, and carried drawn swords. The knights thus acting were: C.J. SMyth, T.J. Nolan, Edward D. Geoghegan, J.A. Schall, J.H. Schmidt, Thomas E. Flynn, Frank J. Coad and Edward Kearney.

“State joined with church in giving fitting recognition to the occasion. Representatives of both houses of the national congress, in the persons of United States Senator Norris Brown and Congressman Gilbert M. Hitchcock, participated in the speaking, as did Acting Governor M.R. Hopewell, representing the exective department of the commonwealth in the absence of Governor Sheldon.

“In the ceremonies of laying the stone, Bishop Scannell officiated, the bishop setting the stone with his own hands. Father F.J. Smith of Saint Patricks acted as deacon, Father D.W. Moriarty of Saint Bernards as sub-deacon and Father Flanagan of Saint James orphanage as crossbearer.

“Father Gleason had charge of the music and led the dozen priests who intoned the chants, besides directing the surpliced choir of fifty voices. The choir was a special one made up for the occasion from the choirs of all the churches.

“Archbishop Ireland of Saint Paul delivered the sermon. Senator Brown, Lt. Governor Hopewell, and Congressman Hitchcock each addressed the crowd. T.J. Mahoney, as a representative of the laity, presided over the program.”

Within the cornerstone was put a parchment which reads: On the sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and seven, in the fifth year of the reign of our Most Holy Father, Pius X, by Divine Providence Pope, Theodore Roosevelt being President of the United States of American, George Lawson Sheldon, Governor of Nebraska, and James Charles Dahlman, mayor of Omaha, the cornerstone of this cathedral, to be built for the ownership of God under the invocation of Saint Cecilia, virgin and martyr, was laid by the Right Reverend Richard Scannell, Bishop of Omaha. The sermon was preached by the Most Reverend John Ireland, Archbishop of Saint Paul. The architect was Thomas Rogers Kimball; contractors, William Paxton Deverell, Albert Schall and Albert Foll.

Also enclosed were photographs of His Holiness, Pope Pius X, Reverend Richard Scannell, Bishop of Omaha, Fr. William Kelly, who was notable associated with the old cathedral, Saint Philomena, and Fr. Patrick McGovern, the present priest there in charge.

There was also catholic documentary matter from the American Catholic Historical Review of 1891, and the local newspapers, The True Voice, The Omaha Bee, The World Herald, and The News, containing articles about the silver jubilee celebration of Saint Philomena’s cathedral in 1893.

The parade had formed shortly after noon; the services at the cathedral took three hours. A banquet for the hundred visiting prelates, priests, and laymen who participated in the ceremony followed at the Sacred Heart convent. Eating and more speeches continued until the late hours that night.

The 1980s for the American Church was a time of liturgical experimentation and implementation. In the minds of many caring Catholics, formality was associated with distance and coldness. Its opposite, informality, was interpreted as being casual. It seemed necessary to some to apologize for grand buildings and the demands they made upon worshippers. Ceremonies should be accessible, and should be brought to the people. In the 1980s, a movement arose to dole out celebrations and liturgies to parishes rather than to locate them in a cathedral. This movement could often lead to a lack of focus in the philosophy of ecclesiastical procedures.

The late 1980s and the early 90s, however, brought a rediscovery of the longer tradition of the cathedral as being the heart of a city. In the Middle Ages, a cathedral had been the center of the cultural life. Americans, of course, had always been pioneers, striding ever forward to “modern” ways in preference to the old. But contrary to the easy ideas of shallow enthusiasts, serious church leaders once again perceived the wisdom of many Medieval practices.

Archbishop Elden Francis Curtiss loved Omaha’s Cathedral, and major events in the life of the archdiocese returned to Saint Cecilia. Participants in Masses in the largest church in the are sensed the liturgical and civic implications of the structure as the seat of a bishop as high priest. The fullest expression of community in religion would take place at the Cathedral. All of its ministries would be models for daughter churches. From its hilltop location, Saint Cecilia would be a beacon for the Faith. It would impart to the Catholics of Omaha a renewed sense of their being part in a deeply symbolic sense of a “City set on a Hill.”

All this set the stage in the late 1990s for a dramatic physical restoration and renovation program. Things that had been lost would have to be put back. A heritage had to be reclaimed–and proclaimed.

Paul Jeffrey, A.I.A., of the Omaha architectural firm of Bahr, Vermeer and Haecker, led the project. To do so, he said, he would have to “put on the mind of Thomas Rogers Kimball.” He began the renovation with the roof. Frequently allowing rainwater to enter the church, the red Spanish tiles had to be replaced. But where could appropriate replacement tiles be found?

Amazingly, separate strands of Omaha’s architectural history came together just at the right time. Early in the twentieth century, another of the city’s most gifted architects, John Latenser Sr., had built for himself a mansion on a rolling acreage in Ponca Hill, just north of the Omaha city limits. He patterned his house after those he had seen in his native Liechtenstein and roofed it with red tiles. In 1997 the Ponca house had become the headquarters for a new congregation, the Intercessors of the Lamb. They were in the process of renovating it and found that they had red roof tiles to spare. Thus the legacy of Kimball, nearly ninety years after his masterpiece was erected, would be enhanced by materials from the time of one of his (always congenial) competitors in the architectural profession.

Brother William Woeger, F.S.C. served as the “client representative” in the restoration process. Once the roof was restored, the long and challenging task of renovating the interior began. Fortunately, some of Kimball’s original drawings for both the roof and the interior were discovered and could be used as guides. Brother Woeger’s goal was to recapture the richness of the Spanish Renaissance with an Iberian decorative scheme, achieved through the master-craftsmen of the firm of Evergreene Studies of New York City, with the artist Jeff Greene doing most of the work. The clerestory walls were given warm colors to complement the cooler blue of the stained glass windows. Stenciling combined traditional Italian and Moorish patterns with those reflective of the indigenous peoples of New Spain, the Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs. The blue outlines around the stencils especially exhibited the Mayan (Central American) influence.

Nicolette Amundson, A.I.A., with Bahr, Vermeer and Haecker since 1990, directed much of the architectural work of the restoration. Upon the recommendation of Robert Mahoney, an acoustical expert from Colorado, interior ceiling tiles were replaced and plaster was restored on the ceiling vaults.

The renovation occurred under Archbishop Elden Curtiss’ leadership. He was committed to the mission of celebrating the humanities for the Glory of God. The restoration/renovation was unveiled in 2000, a year of pilgrimage in which many hundreds of people from each of the archdiocese’s deaneries came to see what had been achieved with their financial support. It was a common opinion among experts and non-experts alike that Omaha’s Cathedral had become an outstanding venue for the liturgical arts in the United States. 

Brother Woeger was the designer of another major contribution to the physical appearance of the Cathedral as its centennial approached. For forty years a rolling, movable altar stood in the sanctuary, symbolically expressing an orientation towards the congregation. This allowed flexibility and adaptation to different ceremonies and varying numbers of celebrants and participants. But it also reflected a kind of architectural uncertainty. A directive from Rome in 2004 declared that a high altar must be permanently placed. This demanded a major change, a difficult effort from one standpoint but a splendid opportunity from another. 

Thomas Kimball had designed the original high altar long before the Second Vatican Council, and his original ideas had been sound both liturgically and artistically. Sight lines according to his plan made it possible for worshippers in every part of the Cathedral to focus on the celebrant at the altar. With the rolling, movable altar this had not been so. Now the original focus has been regained, and a new altar designed by Brother William contributes another element of Spanish Baroque magnificence. Its bronze body was fashioned by Omaha artist John Lajba. The baseboards are of Vermont Green marble matching the baseboards of the rest of the church. The altar platform, or pradella, is a white Virginia marble, making a visual connection with the white baldachino. American-quarried Napoleon-grey marble is also used, and the top of the altar is a slab of Rojo Alicante, a marble from Spain.