CATHEDRAL. - It is the principal church of the diocese, where the cathedra or throne of the bishop is located. Also called "Duomo" or house of God par excellence, it is the most important church of the diocese (ecclesia mater and maior). If the bishop is invested with some rank of dignity or particular jurisdiction, his cathedral likewise receives the analogous title, that is, of metropolitan, primatial or patriarchal.
The cathedral must be solemnly consecrated (cf. can. 1165 §3) and the anniversary of this consecration or dedication is celebrated throughout the diocese with the double rite of the first class and octave; without octave by religious. The patron saint is solemnized with the same rite. The episcopal cathedra, or throne, must be located, according to ancient custom, at the end of the apse, with the altar in front, so that the celebrant faces the people; if the altar is placed against the wall, then the throne stands on the Gospel side. The daily office of the cathedral is performed by the Chapter (v.) and consists in the recitation of the divine office and in the sung Mass of the day. In the cathedral the most solemn functions take place, such as general sacred ordinations, "vocatis et praesentibus canonicis", on the Saturdays of the Ember Days, on the Saturday "Sitientes" and on Holy Saturday (can. 1006 and 1009); the announcement of the movable feasts after the Gospel of the Mass of the Epiphany, the consecration of the holy Oils and the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday. At Easter and on another day of his choosing the bishop gives in the cathedral the papal blessing with the attached plenary indulgence, according to can. 914.
The CIC has various norms on cathedrals, besides those already cited; such norms concern: the burden of repairs (can. 1186: v. CHIESA), the reservation of the Most Holy Eucharist (can. 1268 § 3: v. EUCARISTIA), the right to receive the bishop's sacred furnishings at his death (can. 1299: v. SUPPELLETTILI SACRE), and conversely the obligation to supply the bishop gratis with the sacred furnishings and everything he needs for Mass or for pontifical functions (can. 1303 § 1: v. SUPPELLETTILI SACRE), judicial competence for cases concerning the rights or temporal goods of the cathedral (can. 1576 § 1, which prescribes a collegiate tribunal of three judges), the possibility for the bishop to stand in judgment in the name of the cathedral (can. 1653 § 1), the effects of local interdict with regard to the cathedral (cann. 2271 n. 2 and 2272: v. INTERDETTO).
Bibliography3 works
Rinaldo Pilkington
THE CATHEDRAL IN URBAN PLANNING
With regard to its location, it is interesting to note that the oldest medieval cathedrals did not rise in the heart of the city, but on the periphery, and sometimes even entirely outside the built-up area (Pisa). Mengozzi would seek the cause of this in the difficulties encountered by the Church during the first centuries, or in the lack of areas available within the urban nucleus; according to Gantner, the isolation of the sacred building from the profane responded to symbolic intentions.
More probably, defensive reasons must have played a part in this sense, as is demonstrated by the connection of the cathedral with the castle (Fondi, now no longer an episcopal see) or its position beside obligatory points of passage, and therefore certainly fortified, such as bridges (Verona, and perhaps also Cologne), or else at the edge of the original walled circuit, in cities of Roman foundation (Como, Lucca and many centers along the Via Emilia). Finally, the opportunity of serving at the same time the spiritual needs of the city and of the surrounding countryside may not have been extraneous to this location either.
The configuration of the terrain also exerted a decisive influence, determining in hill towns the placement of the cathedral at the highest point, often superimposing it on Roman or pre-Roman temples (Alatri, Fermo), and sometimes giving rise to peripheral locations (Gubbio, Spoleto, Cortona), or even locations outside the urban nucleus (Ancona). The result has nonetheless been a detachment from the remaining cluster of buildings, with the church standing out sharply against the whole complex of the built-up area. Picturesque and grandiose effects are observed especially in cities on rivers, where the cathedral dominates the adjacent zone from natural terraces (Avignon, Basel). In cities on the plain, the cathedral, when it occupies a central position, generally becomes the determining element and constitutes, in the great building renewal that begins with the 13th century, the dominant motif of the main square, where the market is also held (Cremona, Reggio Emilia, many Belgian and German cities). The square can assume various planimetric forms: the L-shaped arrangement, which allows the church to present two free sides, is frequent in Italy (Pistoia, Foligno), and not rare also in central and western Europe (Strasbourg, Rouen); there are also triangular forms, of more ancient origin (Massa Marittima), but which in some countries continue well into the 14th century (Antwerp); sometimes, finally, the square is laid out in depth, often skillfully connected with other nearby squares, so as to constitute a complex of organically grouped spaces (Todi, Ascoli Piceno).
The new Renaissance conceptions, after some transitional manifestations (such as Urbino, which shows a revival, with a different sensibility, of the connection between church and castle), become fully established at Pienza, where the cathedral takes on the meaning of a central element in a building composition harmoniously fused and balanced in its volumetric and spatial relationships and logically inserted into the urban scheme. The following century shows, in this field as well, the imprint of academic Mannerism in the square of Livorno, in which porticoed buildings frame the cathedral according to a rigidly unitary conception. The Baroque finally offers us at Salzburg the expression of the new spatial sense, in the succession of squares surrounding the cathedral arranged so as to ensure its visibility from all sides, while leaving the space in front of it enclosed and intimate.
The 18th and 19th centuries present no interest in this respect; in the latter century, indeed, the false criteria of isolation and of a misunderstood enhancement lead to the complete alteration of the original environment, with the transformation of the ancient churchyards into overly vast squares, sometimes dense with traffic (Milan, Paris). The solutions adopted in the first decades of the 20th century for the reconstruction of earthquake-stricken towns in Italy are almost always banal as well.
Outside Europe, some good examples of urban planning around the cathedral are found in North Africa (Benghazi, Tripoli, Rabat). But it is above all in Latin America that the most imposing expressions of the last three centuries can be seen: particularly in Mexico City and Santiago de Chile, where, around the principal church of the city, the major representative buildings are scenographically grouped.
Bibliography3 works
Mario Zocca