The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary is a neo-Gothic Catholic church in the center of Moscow, Russia. It serves as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Moscow. Located in the Central Administrative Okrug, it is one of three Catholic churches in Moscow and the largest in Russia.
The construction of the cathedral was approved in 1894 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire. Groundbreaking was in 1899; construction work began in 1901 and was completed ten years later. Three-aisled and built from red brick, the cathedral is based on a design by architect Tomasz Bohdanowicz-Dworzecki. The style was influenced by Westminster Abbey and Milan Cathedral. With the help of funds from Catholic parishes in Russia and its neighbouring states, the church was consecrated as a chapel for Moscow's Polish parish in 1911. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Provisional Government was overthrown by the Bolsheviks and Russia eventually became part of the Soviet Union in 1922. Because the promotion of state atheism was a part of Marxist–Leninist ideology, the government ordered many churches closed; the cathedral was closed in 1938. During World War II, it was threatened with demolition, and was used after the war for civil purposes, as a warehouse and then a hostel. Following the fall of communism in 1991, it returned to being a church in 1996. In 2002 it was elevated to the status of cathedral. Following an extensive and costly programme of reconstruction and refurbishment, the cathedral was reconsecrated in 2005.
In the 21st century, after 58 years of non-religious use, the cathedral is once again the setting for regular liturgical celebrations in multiple languages—Russian, Polish, Korean, English, French, Spanish, Armenian and Latin—as well as benefit concerts featuring organ and church music. Its organ, the third since the cathedral's construction, was donated by the Basel Münster. The cathedral is listed as a heritage building in the Russian Federation, and is a protected monument.
History
First construction period
At the end of the 19th century, only two Catholic churches existed in Moscow: the Saint Louis des Français church for the French population and the St. Peter and Paul church for the Polish parishioners. As the congregation for the Polish church had increased to around 30,000 members, the existing buildings were too small. Following the submission of a petition to the Governor-General of Moscow, the local council voted for a new church in 1894. Construction of a new church was permitted with several conditions, including two pertinent to the building site: the structure was to be built away from the old city centre, and was not to be located in the vicinity of any Orthodox sacred sites.
Bearing in mind the council's requirements, on 16 May 1895 the parish purchased a 10 hectare (22 acre) site on Malaya Gruzinskaya Street, then located on the city outskirts and surrounded by fields and vegetable gardens. Today, the site is in the Central Administrative Okrug, outside of the Garden Ring road defining the old walled city, just beyond the Moscow Metro's Koltsevaya Line, and is surrounded by 20th century urban development. The purchase of the land was funded by donations, and cost 10,000 rubles in gold (roughly US$ ). The purchase agreement and a full list of donations are today kept in the city archives of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
A further condition imposed by the city read as follows: "In the light of the two existing Roman Catholic churches, the future church shall be larger, with a cross on the gable, but without spires and exterior sculpture". The plans for the building were produced by a Russian architect of Polish descent, Tomasz Bohdanowicz-Dworzecki. Although his plan did not follow the council's latter condition, it was accepted. The plan provided seating for up to 5,000 worshippers. Groundbreaking was in 1899, and construction took place from 1901 to 1911. The construction cost was 290,000 roubles in gold (roughly US$ ), much of which was donated by members of the Polish parish of Moscow. More funding came from Catholic parishes throughout Russia, Poland and Belarus.
The church was consecrated on 21 December 1911 as the "Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary". It soon obtained the status of a chapel in the Peter and Paul parish. The consecration received extensive coverage in the Russian and Polish press. The Moscow newspaper Russkoye Slovo wrote: In the filthy, wretched Malaya Gruzinskaya (Little Georgian) Street, forsaken by God and the city, there rose the wonderful, highly artistic solidity of the new Roman Catholic church, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of Holy Virgin Mary. Tremendous in magnitude and height, ... with a plenty of conning turrets and towers with crosses. The new cathedral makes a deep impression ... [Every detail] looks impressive and eminent: Not the slightest stylistic flaw could be seen or detected.
From 1911 to 1917, money was collected for interior furnishings, which were relatively sparse apart from the impressive main altar. (These original furnishings remained until the 1930s.) Parts of the draft plan were abandoned: the floor was not constructed from marble as intended, but poured from plain concrete; outside there were no pinnacles on the façade. Writings vary on when the pinnacles were built: some claim they were built in 1923, but others argue that they were not completed until the renovation of the cathedral in 1999. Observers that argue for an earlier construction date state that they were damaged during World War II and left dismantled for some time.
Closure and conversions
In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Provisional Government was overthrown by the Bolsheviks, and Russia became part of the new Soviet Union. As the promotion of state atheism was a part of Marxist–Leninist ideology, the Soviet government ordered many churches closed. The Peter and Paul parish was formally dissolved by the communist government in 1929, and offering the Mass was forbidden. The church lost much of its surrounding gardens in 1935—a school was built there the following year—and the church was finally closed on 30 July 1938 (the St. Peter and Paul Church, Moscow had met the same fate nine days earlier). The church was plundered after its closure, and many items, including the main altar and the organ, were lost. The church was used for several months as a vegetable store, and was then reconstructed as a hostel and its interior divided into four floors.
The main tower's spire was removed during the Battle of Moscow to prevent the Luftwaffe from using it as a landmark. Shortly after the war ended in 1945, sections of the gardens were annexed for the building of an apartment block. A fire in 1956 caused the collapse of the lantern over the principal tower's dome. Existing tenants were slowly rehoused, and members of the Mosspetspromproyekt (Russian: Мосспецпромпроект) research institute took possession of the former church. The research institute dealt primarily with project drawings for industrial facilities, but also designed the Olympic cauldron used at Lenin Stadium for the 1980 Summer Games.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the building's exterior became increasingly dilapidated; among those concerned about the church's deterioration was Russian bard Vladimir Vysotsky, who lived in a house across the street. In the late 1970s the city considered renovating the building, possibly to use as a concert hall for organ recitals, or as a general cultural administration centre. These projects were never carried out due to resistance from the research institute.
Return to religious use
The glasnost (openness) policy, introduced during the rule of Mikhail Gorbachev, played a major role in developing religious freedom in the Soviet Union. Consequently, in 1989, a group of Moscow Catholics and the cultural association "The Polish House" (Russian: Дом Польский), suggested that the building should again be used for religious purposes. Following the city's assent, the first Mass at the site in 60 years was celebrated on the church stairs during the feast of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December 1990. The Mass was celebrated by the Polish priest Tadeusz Pikus, who later became an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Warsaw.
In January 1990, a group of Catholics in Moscow formally founded the parish of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary. On 13 April 1991 Pope John Paul II promulgated the encyclical Providi quae establishing the "Apostolic administration for European Russia". Its apostolic administrator, Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, issued a decree for the reconstruction of the church on 21 April 1991. With the city's permission, on the Polish National Day (3 May) a second Mass was held, again on the stairs. The constitution of the parish was officially acknowledged on 31 May by the department of justice of the city council. Meanwhile, parts of the church were subleased by Mosspetspromproyekt to various companies.
From 7 June 1991, Masses were celebrated each Sunday in the churchyard—the institute still occupied the building. On 15 July 1991, Father Josef Sanewski, a member of the Salesians of Don Bosco, was appointed the new parish priest. Religious education had been given regularly under the direction of the Salesian Sisters since 29 November 1991. At the same time, the first charities were founded for nursing and aid to the poor. The vice-mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, signed a decree in favour of the Church on 1 February 1992 ordering the institute to vacate the property by 1994. Parish members entered the building on 2 July 1992, and occupied the institute's workshop. Moscow City Council agreed to allow the church to occupy the space, which was subsequently walled off from the remainder of the building. There, in the former workshop, Mass was celebrated regularly.
The dividing wall was removed by parish members on 7 March 1995, while others started clearing the truss. The institute called the police, OMON, for help. The following day, more conflict with the police occurred and several parish members, among them a nun, were injured. Others were arrested, including a priest and a seminarian, but were released the next day. After these events, the Apostolic Administrator, Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, wrote an open letter to the Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, on 9 March 1995, requesting his intervention: "It seems that persecution of the church was history. Is that the case? I can't remember seeing a priest arrested, and I can't remember seeing a nun beaten up."
As a result, Senior Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, a Yeltsin appointee, signed a decision for the removal of the institute. The decision, dated 7 March 1995, ordered the institute's departure by 1996. Simultaneously, the institute wrote to Luzhkov describing the earlier events from their perspective, and requested compensation for loss of the building. In a meeting with the Polish ambassador, Stanisław Ciosek, on 15 March 1995, the acting mayor of Moscow, Alexander Musykantski, assured him that the return of the church would be complete by the end of the year.