Pope Francis has created a cathedral for the Isle of Man.
The Holy Father has designated cathedral status to the Church of Saint Mary of the Isle in Douglas, the capital of the island in the Irish Sea.
The announcement follows the decision to award Douglas city status as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022.
The Isle of Man is part of the Archdiocese of Liverpool which means that the diocese will effectively have two Catholic cathedrals.
St Mary’s will be referred to as a co-cathedral with the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King in Liverpool’s city centre, some 80 miles away.
Co-cathedrals are rare in the Catholic Church, but exist when two dioceses, each with its own cathedral, are merged or when a single diocese spans two distinct civil jurisdictions.
Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of Liverpool said he welcomed the designation by the Pontiff with “great joy”.
“The Isle of Man is a significant part of our archdiocese, it constitutes one third of its land mass and the island’s Catholic community has increasing diversity with parishioners coming from many different parts of the world,” said the archbishop.
“It is fantastic that we can acknowledge this with the announcement of a co-cathedral – a status that is rare in the Catholic Church. It is something that everyone on the island will take great pride in.”
Mgr John Devine, parish priest of St Mary’s, said he was also delighted by the new status of his church.
“It is wonderful news for Catholics across the island,” he said. “It has been a year-long process to get to this point.
“I was first approached by Douglas Borough Council who pointed out that cities have cathedrals, the island already has an Anglican cathedral in Peel on the west coast of the island, but they enquired whether it would be possible to elevate the church of Saint Mary of the Isle, Douglas, to the status of a cathedral.
Mgr Devine said Archbishop McMahon, acting on the advice of canon lawyers, then petitioned the Holy Father.
The request, he said, was supported by both the Anglican Bishop Peter Eagles of Sodor and Man, the chief executive of Douglas Council and the President of Tynwald.
He said: “It is not just an honour for Douglas, but it acknowledges the unique faith story of the Isle of Man.
“Christianity in the Isle of Man traces its roots to the time of St Patrick and St Maughold in the 5th century.
“But there is limited appreciation of the unique history and traditions of the Manx Church in the rest of the archdiocese.
“Similarly, few of the island’s Catholics identify with Liverpool. However, rather than separating them further, the granting of co-cathedral status to St Mary’s will raise consciousness in Liverpool to the riches of the Manx church.
He added: “The permanent presence of the Archbishop’s seat at St Mary’s will also serve as a reminder to the people of the island that the Archbishop of Liverpool is their archbishop, too.”
Bishop Eagles said: “It is a source of great gladness to me that we have such strong ecumenical relationships here on the Island.
“It has often occurred to me that that Saint Mary of the Isle has a dignity and spaciousness that is as appropriate for a cathedral as for a parish church and I fully support the bestowing of co-cathedral status.”
Plans are under way for an official ceremony during which Archbishop McMahon will formally take possession of his seat to mark the church becoming a cathedral.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.