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December 7, 2006

Bishop's body will return to cathedral he built

PROVIDENCE -- One hundred and twenty years after his death, the body of Bishop Thomas F. Hendricken, the first Bishop of Providence, is being returned tomorrow to the cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. Constructing the cathedral is seen as the crowning achievement of Hendricken’s 14 years as bishop.

“As the founding Bishop of Providence, Bishop Hendricken was a leader of historic proportions for the Catholic church in New England,” said Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, current bishop of the Diocese of Providence. "He made the establishment of our present cathedral his personal and ardent goal – a goal that he would never live to see as the first Mass celebrated in the cathedral was his funeral.’’

Hendricken, a native of Ireland, spent more than a decade planning and raising money for the cathedral. The building was nearly complete when he died, at the age of 59, in June 1886. His wake and funeral drew thousands to the nearly finished cathedral.

-- Journal staff writer G. Wayne Miller

Posted by Jack Perry  at 12:49 PM | Permalink

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