Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral, Catholic co-cathedral in Anchorage, United States
Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral is a Spanish Mission Revival church designed by Architects Alaska and completed in 2005. Inside, light-brown wooden pews line a polished reddish-brown floor beneath a vaulted ceiling of exposed light-wood trusses. A recessed rounded arch frames the altar, with a crucifix on a white cross and two tall arched windows of blue stained glass flanking it.
The parish was established in the 1970s and met in a Methodist church until the congregation could afford a multi-purpose building with worship space. The present church, designed by Architects Alaska in the Spanish Mission Revival style, was completed in 2005. Archbishop Roger Schwietz petitioned the Holy See in 2013 to name it a co-cathedral; the petition was approved in October 2014, and on December 12, 2014, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the church was elevated to cathedral. In 2020 Pope Francis merged the Archdiocese of Anchorage and the Diocese of Juneau, designating this church the cathedral of the new Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau.
Services here are conducted in both English and Spanish, reflecting the linguistic diversity of the local community. The religious calendar is marked with processions and special ceremonies throughout the year.
The cathedral is primarily accessible during worship services, with office hours limited to Tuesday through Thursday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Those interested in baptisms or wedding arrangements should plan to visit during these office hours.
The cathedra, or bishop's chair, installed when the church was elevated on December 12, 2014, is the chair Pope John Paul II used when he celebrated Mass in Anchorage in 1981. A metropolitan cross carved from a linden tree was made for the occasion.
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