St. Raphael's Catholic Church

                  2005 Fire                   2008 Removal of the Steeple
222 W. Main St.     Built 1853-62     Spire 150 ft.
The St. Raphael congregation was formed in 1842 by Irish immigrants.
May 28, 1854 Cornerstone is laid for St. Raphael's Catholic Cathedral.

The congregation of Irish immigrants began building the church in 1853 on land that was donated by territorial governor James Doty. The construction took several years and the church was not ready for use until 1862.

The church's original bell tower and spire were added in 1885. The last major renovation of the cathedral building was in the mid-1950s.

A cathedral church is considered the bishop's church in a Catholic diocese. When the Madison Diocese was created in 1945, St. Raphael's was designated as the cathedral. Every Catholic diocese has a cathedral literally the "seat" of the bishop designated as its spiritual center. Since then, it has been the site of the ordination of numerous priests, the place where bishops were installed and where other major religious events were held.

While it is one of the original churches in Madison, St. Raphael's is not the oldest. Grace Episcopal at the corner of West Washington and North Carroll was formed as a parish in 1840 and the current church building was completed in 1858.

March 14, 2005 St. Raphael Cathedral was destroyed by fire. The cause of the fire was arson.

St. Raphael's deed restriction may block development
A restriction on the original 1842 deed to the downtown site of the arson-ravaged St. Raphael Cathedral may rule out high-end development and limit the Diocese of Madison's choices about where to locate a cathedral.

The deed, handwritten in tight, tiny script, documents the sale for $1 of the property by Madison city founder James Duane Doty and his wife, Sarah, to the presiding bishop for "the use and benefit of the Roman Catholic Congregation of Madison and vicinity for church and school purposes.