A Glance at the Past: Saints Peter and Paul

MSGR. RAYMOND KUPKE

The bicentennial of our Cathedral Parish of St. John the Baptist, which was celebrated with such enthusiasm this past June 24, has prompted me to take a look at some of the features of the cathedral. For 35 years, two large statues of the apostles, Peter and Paul, have stood in niches on the sanctuary wall of the cathedral. Carved in wood in the 19th century in the Tyrol section of northern Italy, these two saints were not random choices made at the time of the 1987 renovations under Bishop Frank J. Rodimer, but rather represent three different aspects — historical, liturgical, and ecclesial — of the cathedral’s history and role.

First is the historical connection. Prior to the liturgical reforms prompted by the Second Vatican Council, there were two different rites for hallowing a church building. One was a simple blessing or dedication when a new church was opened. For St. John’s this was celebrated on July 31, 1870, when the almost-completed church was opened for use. Bishop William Wood of Philadelphia stood in for Newark Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley who had not yet returned from Europe after the First Vatican Council. The second rite was a much more elaborate ritual known as the “consecration” of a church. This could only be performed when a church was totally free of debt. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was a relatively rare ritual in the United States. But, St. John’s building pastor, Dean William McNulty, was determined and within 20 years he led the congregation in not only completing the finishing touches on the cathedral (at an estimated cost of $232,000) but also in completely paying it off! Hence, on June 29, 1890, the Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul, Bishop Winand M. Wigger of Newark traveled to Paterson and consecrated St. John’s. In the post-Vatican II liturgical reforms, the two rites were combined into a single “Dedication of a Church.” The new rite, mostly utilizing the ceremonies of the more elaborate consecration ritual, has been celebrated twice more in the Cathedral after total renovations, by Bishop Frank J. Rodimer on Dec. 9, 1987 (the 50th anniversary of the Diocese) and by Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli on June 24, 2017.

The second reason is liturgical — and architectural. The sanctuary wall of the Cathedral has two niches for statues in what are decorative pillars. Over the course of the years, several different saints appear in those niches in photos of the Cathedral from various eras, including St. John the Baptist and St. Francis Xavier. In the 1987 renovation it was determined that Ss. Peter and Paul, who are often referred to in liturgy and Church history as the “two pillars of the ancient Church,” would be most suitable for those pillar niches.

The third reason is ecclesial. Ss. Peter and Paul, who share a joint solemnity each year on June 29, were both martyred at Rome in the persecution under the Emperor Nero. As such they have always been honored as the patron saints of the Roman Church. In more modern times, the Roman pontiffs have chosen their feast as the opportunity to bless the pallia, the distinctive vestments worn by metropolitan archbishops throughout the world, as a sign of the unique ways in which they help preserve the unity of the Church. Since St. John’s is our cathedral, and represents in a unique way the entire Diocese of Paterson, it seemed appropriate to include statues of the patrons of the Roman Church as a way of symbolically stating our own local Church’s connection to the Holy Father and participation in the unity of the whole Church.

So, as Ss. Peter and Paul stand watch over us at every diocesan liturgy in our cathedral, they are not just two random saints chosen by lot, but help make visible our participation in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.