Archbishop Leonard P. Blair
In the Fall of 2021 the Sacrament of Confirmation began to be celebrated seasonally on Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford rather than in the parishes. This has made it possible for me and Bishop Betancourt, as Bishops, to confer the sacrament as we normally should, rather than delegating some of our priests to assist us with many Confirmations celebrated locally in a given year.
As you can imagine there was some questioning initially about the decision to have everyone go to the Cathedral, but I am very happy to report that, by all accounts, Confirmations at the Cathedral have been extremely well received and successful. What previously were many relatively small local liturgies in parishes on a weekday night after school and work have now been transformed into a major weekend event in the Spring and Fall. Mid-day Cathedral Confirmations on the weekend also mean that families can celebrate afterward at home or perhaps a restaurant in a more festive way. Cathedral ceremonies on weekends have also eased many of the individual parish’s planning responsibilities.
Our Archdiocese is blessed with a magnificent cathedral. Admittedly, from the outside our Cathedral of St. Joseph looks very large, somewhat plain and austere, but inside the glorious walls of French stained glass, ceramic, marble and metalwork all come together in a remarkable way. Parishioners who come for Confirmation, many of whom had never set foot in the Cathedral before, have said how impressively beautiful it is. Some have even come back for Sunday Mass on other weekends not only for the setting, but also the extremely fine liturgical music provided by Dr. Ezequiel Menéndez and the Cathedral choir.
Those who are being confirmed at the Cathedral experience the presence from other parishes of young Catholics, mostly of their own age group, coming together in faith to then be “sent out” into the wider world to bear witness to Christ. This is in keeping with what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, that “Confirmation should strive to awaken a sense of belonging to … the universal church as well as the parish community.” The grace of Confirmation is meant to strengthen us for our mission to go out into the world as witnesses to Jesus, and to do so conscious of our membership in a truly Catholic, universal family of faith. After Hartford’s old cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1956, my predecessor Archbishop O’Brien faced the monumental challenge of building a new one, something that required enlisting the generous support of all the Catholic people, not to mention the oversight of a huge building project. He succeeded admirably. On my watch as Archbishop it falls to me to see that the Cathedral remains structurally sound, artistically and liturgically beautiful, and serviceable for the needs of the whole archdiocese as well as the cathedral parish and the local community. As the “mother church” that is home to every member of our archdiocesan family of faith, we all have a stake in ensuring its preservation. When the Hartford Bishops’ Foundation (HBF) was inaugurated in 2016 one of the priorities in my mind was the need for repairs and enhancement of the cathedral. Many other things subsequently claimed our attention, especially during the pandemic that disrupted almost everything. Nevertheless, last September, after a major restructuring of the former cathedral school building a permanent medical clinic was installed to house the Malta House of Care to replace their medical van at that site, and the cathedral food and clothing pantry was provided with a sizable space to accommodate the high volume of people served. As for the cathedral church itself, major repairs were made to the tower, and enhancements to the grounds.
A major and necessary repair yet to be accomplished is the rebuilding of the steps and plaza in front of the cathedral. Also yet to be accomplished is the trans-formation of what had been the lower cathedral “church” into a versatile space for cathedral and archdiocesan events and religious education, for receptions like those following Confirmation and Ordination ceremonies, and for events and activities of the Asylum Hill neighborhood that can make the cathedral an even greater partner in the life of the community.
Now that the HBF capital campaign “Forward with Faith” is drawing to a close, a concluding focused effort is going to be made for the Cathedral, and it is my hope and prayer that there will be a generous response. If people’s experience of Confirmations at the Cathedral is any indication, I think we can look forward to a successful effort.