Porte della Misericordia

In August of 1881, Jesuit Fr. Joseph Cataldo converted a carpenter's shop into the Church of St. Joseph, the first Catholic church in the Spokane Township, with only 5 parishioners attending the first mass. Five years later, a large brick church dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes replaced the original structure. Continued growth required an even more significant move. The cornerstone for the present church was laid in 1903. In 1906, the new school was completed. In 1913, Our Lady of Lourdes became the Cathedral for the newly created Diocese of Spokane.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes stands firmly as a sign that the transcendent is present in the immanent, that an ageless tradition has a place in the here-and-now. The Cathedral offers solemn liturgical ceremony and stately ritual as well as the simple gift of a baloney sandwich to the hungry. These signs of hope reverse what could be the decline of an inner city core.

Since the church was remodeled in 1971, there is a mixture of old and new: Italian Romanesque style arches span the interior spaces while a square baldachino amplifies prayer and song for the congregation. The original Italian marble altar depicting the sacrifice of Calvary supplies a stunning symbolic and artistic backdrop to the new altar -- the gathering table where the community of faithful share the Eucharist. The crowning beauty of the Cathedral is the Bavarian stained glass windows which create a panorama of Judeo-Christian history and tradition.