In 1883, Archbishop Patrick W. Riordan purchased the northwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and O'Farrell Street in Western Addition. Riordan broke ground in December 1885. On May 1, 1887, the archbishop placed the cornerstone. Archbishop Riordan dedicated the edifice to Saint Mary of the Assumption on January 11, 1891. The second cathedral served the Archdiocese of San Francisco for seventy-one years. During the episcopal terms of archbishops Riordan, Edward J. Hanna and John J. Mitty. Papal Secretary of StateEugenio Cardinal Pacelli, said Mass at the high altar in October 1936. On April 3, 1962, Joseph T. McGucken was installed as the fifth Archbishop of San Francisco in the cathedral on Van Ness Avenue. Five months later the landmark was destroyed by arson on the night of September 7, 1962.
Rectors of the cathedral from 1891 to 2015
The Very Rev. Msgr. John J. Prendergast, V.G., 1891–1913
Rev. Agnel Jose De Heredia, Administrator, 2002–2003
Monsignor John Talesfore, 2005–2015
Most Reverend William J. Justice Administrator, 2015
Reverend Arturo Albano, Current
New cathedral: 1971
The present cathedral was commissioned just as Vatican II was convening in Rome. Monsignor Thomas J. Bowe served as first rector of the new cathedral from 1962 to 1980. The cornerstone was laid on December 13, 1967, and the cathedral was completed three years later. On May 5, 1971, the cathedral was blessed and on October 5, 1996, was formally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the name of Saint Mary of the Assumption. The first Papal Mass was celebrated by Pope John Paul II in the cathedral in 1987. It ran the private all-female Cathedral High School, in a building adjoined to the present-day cathedral itself. CHS merged with nearby all-male private Sacred Heart High School in 1987. St. Mary's Cathedral still has close ties to the resulting Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, which uses the cathedral as its principal church for masses and other special events, such as graduation. As well, Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo use the cathedral to hold graduation.
Design
The 1971 cathedral was designed by local architects John Michael Lee, Paul A. Ryan and Angus McSweeney, collaborating with internationally known architects Pier Luigi Nervi and Pietro Belluschi, then the Dean of the School of Architecture at MIT. Precast concrete work, which is the entire top portion of the building, was constructed by Terracon and the DiRegolo Family of Hayward, CA. Measuring 255 feet square, the cathedral soars to 190 feet high and is crowned with a 55 feet golden cross. Its saddle roof is composed of eight segments of hyperbolic paraboloids, in such a fashion that the bottom horizontal cross section of the roof is a square and the top cross section is a cross. The design process was controversial. A preliminary design reminded one critic of "the effort of a camel and donkey to mate." After adding Bellushi and Nervi to the team, the situation improved, though the architects were then accused of plagiarizing the design of the St. Mary's Cathedral in Tokyo that was completed several years earlier. Over time, San Francisco's Catholics who had previously worshipped in traditional churches grew more fond of the modern design. The building was selected in 2007 by the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects for a list of San Francisco's top 25 buildings. In 2017, Architecture Digest named it one of the 10 most beautiful churches in the United States.
