A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or cathedra, with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances of this occurred in England before the Protestant Reformation in the dioceses of 'Bath and Wells', and of 'Coventry and Lichfield'. These two dioceses were each named for both cities that served as bishop's seats.

As of March 2020, the Catholic Church had 322 co-cathedrals, mainly in Europe (140 in Italy alone).[1]

Many are former cathedrals, but even if still in use, those often are not granted co-cathedral status.

Often the diocese with one or more co-cathedrals also has a multiple ("hyphenated") name reflecting these, but some have a co-cathedral not mentioned in the title while other former see titles may also be preserved without having a co-cathedral. Sometimes the first-named city does not have the main cathedral (actual see) but boasts another distinction such as being a national capital or having an august ecclesiastical past.

Catholic Europe

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Albania

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In Albania, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tirana-Durrës has a co-cathedral in Durrës, Saint Lucia co-cathedral.

Belgium

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Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels, Belgium.

In Belgium, the cathedral of the primatial Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels is the Metropolitan St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen (Malines), the archiepiscopal seat. Its co-cathedral is the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels, the national capital. A third, larger church in Koekelberg (also in Brussels) has the status of minor basilica, without co-cathedral rank, yet it has received papal visits including a papal beatification.

Bulgaria

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv has, besides the Cathedral of St Louis in Plovdiv, a new co-cathedral of St. Joseph in Sofia.

Croatia

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Czech Republic

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ostrava-Opava has a co-cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption Co-Cathedral in Ostravian-Opavian diocese in Opava besides the Ostrava Savior cathedral.

France

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  • The double-titled bishopric of Aire and Dax has a Co-cathedral of Notre Dame in Dax and a Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Aire
  • The Archdiocese of Chambéry–Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne–Tarentaise has its cathedral in Chambéry and co–cathedrals in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and in Tarentaise
  • The bishop of Couserans (a see suppressed in the French Revolution) had two co-cathedral churches at Saint-Lizier
  • The bishop of Sisteron (a see also suppressed) had a second throne in the church of Forcalquier, which is still called La Con-cathédrale.

Germany

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Hungary

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The primatial Metropolitan see of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest has its primary cathedral in the old archiepiscopal seat, the Cathedral Basilica of Esztergom, and a co-cathedral basilica in the national state capital Budapest.

Italy

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Basilica concattedrale di Maria Santissima della Madia, Monopoli

Malta

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St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta

The metropolitan cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Malta is St. Paul's Cathedral in the former capital Mdina. Since the 1820s, the former Conventual Church of St. John in Valletta has been known as St. John's Co-Cathedral.

Poland

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Slovakia

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Spain

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Ukraine

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Catholic Asia

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Indonesia

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India

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Japan

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Korea

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Philippines

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Syria

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Asian Turkey

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  • The Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia has a Co-Cathedral of St. Anthony of Padua, in Mersin, besides the Marian episcopal see Cathedral of the Annunciation, in İskenderun (Alexandretta).

Catholic Africa

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Egypt

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The Latin Apostolic Vicariate of Alexandria had a St. Catherine cathedral in Alexandria and two co-cathedrals: the former cathedrals of the merged-in apostolic vicariates of Heliopolis of Egypt (Our Lady, in that Cairo suburb) and of Port Said (Our Lady and St. Michael in that Sinai Canal port).

Ghana

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The Diocese of Keta–Akatsi has its co-cathedral at first-named Keta, the cathedral is in second-named Akatsi.

Catholic Central America and Antilles

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Belize

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  • Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral in Belmopan is the diocesan co-cathedral of Belize City-Belmopan since the national capital was shifted to Belmopan, which was added to the bishopric's title, but the see and Holy Redeemer Cathedral remained in former capital Belize City.

Guatemala

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Martinique

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  • The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Fort-de-France–Saint-Pierre has a co-cathedral Co-cathédrale Notre Dame de l'Assomption, in Saint-Pierre, besides the cathedral Cathédrale Saint-Louis, in Fort-de-France.

Catholic South America

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Brazil

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Chile

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Peru

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Uruguay

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Catholic Oceania

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Australia

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Papua New Guinea

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  • The Archdiocese of Rabaul has besides its episcopal see -a cathedral in Vunapope- St Francis Xavier's Co-Cathedral, in the national capital Rabaul.

Polynesia

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  • The Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia Co-Cathedral is Our Lady of the Rosary at Siusega, together with the Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart in the capital, Apia in Upolu.
  • The Diocese of Samoa–Pago Pago has a Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph the Worker in Fagatogo besides the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Tafuna, on Tutuila Island

United Kingdom

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Catholic Church

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The Archdiocese of Liverpool includes a co-cathedral on the Isle of Man, the Church of St Mary of the Isle.

Church of England

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Prior to the Protestant Reformation, the dioceses of 'Bath and Wells' and 'Coventry and Lichfield' were the only co-cathedrals in England.

Only one diocese of the Church of England has co-cathedrals; in the Anglican Diocese of Leeds there are three co-cathedrals, Ripon, Bradford and Wakefield. The Diocese of Leeds was formed in 2014 by the merger of the former Anglican dioceses of Bradford, Ripon, and Wakefield, with all three former diocesan cathedrals given co-equal status in the new diocese.[4][5]

In the case of York the collegiate churches of Beverley, Ripon and Southwell were almost in the same position, but although the archbishop had a stall in each, he had no diocesan cathedra in them. The chapters were not united with that of the metropolitan church in the direct government of the diocese, or the election of the archbishop, nor had they those other rights which were held to denote the cathedral character of a church.[citation needed]

Scottish Episcopal Church

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The Diocese of Argyll and The Isles of the Scottish Episcopal Church has two co-cathedrals: St John's Cathedral, Oban and Cathedral of The Isles, Millport, Cumbrae. It is the only diocese to have more than one cathedral.[6]

North America

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Catholic Church

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Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, Maryland.
 
Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, Texas.

In the United States, there are several instances in which a Roman Catholic diocese maintains two episcopal see cities, each with its own cathedral or co-cathedral. Examples include:

In some cases the co-cathedrals are in different municipalities, but the diocese's name does not reflect the dual cathedral status. For example:

There are also three instances in the United States in which a cathedral and its co-cathedral are in the same city.[8] This usually occurs when a historically important cathedral becomes too small to serve a growing population, and a larger co-cathedral is constructed to accommodate larger services. Examples include:

Examples in Canada are:

Episcopal Church (United States)

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In the Episcopal Church in the United States, the Diocese of Iowa and the Diocese of Minnesota each have two cathedrals, both located in different cities; however, they are not styled "co-cathedrals." The Diocese of Lexington maintains a second cathedral of the Cathedral Church of St. George the Martyr at their Cathedral Domain conference center and camp in Irvine, Kentucky, but they do not use the term "co-cathedral" to describe it.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Cathedrals in the World". Gcatholic.org. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Parish". Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  3. ^ "St Maroun's Cathedral". GCatholic.org. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  4. ^ "West Yorkshire Reorganisation Scheme". churchofengland.org. Archbishops' Council of the Church of England. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Cathedrals". anglican.org. Diocese of Leeds. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  6. ^ "Diocese of Argyll and the Isles". anglica.org. Diocese of Argyll and the Isles. 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2017. With Cathedrals in Oban and on the Isle of Cumbrae...
  7. ^ "Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston: History of the Cathedral & Co-Cathedral". Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Cathedrals in USA". Gcatholic.org. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  9. ^ "Cathedral Domain celebrates 100 years of welcoming visitors | Lexington Herald Leader". Archived from the original on 2019-10-07. Retrieved 2019-10-07.