The Catholic Church Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Chinese: ) is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Taichung. It is located at No. 100, Section 2, Sanmin Road, Central District, Taichung, Taiwan.
The parish was established in 1915. Construction of the present church began in 1957 and was completed in 1958.
The cathedral follows the Roman Rite and is the principal church of the Diocese of Taichung (Dioecesis Taichungensis). The territory was established as an apostolic prefecture in 1950 and entrusted to Maryknoll. On April 16, 1962, Pope John XXIII elevated it to a diocese. William F. Kupfer (蔡文興) was installed as its first bishop at the cathedral on September 23, 1962. The current bishop is Su Yao-Wen (蘇耀文).
History The Dominican Period (1914–1950)
According to the parish's history, in 1914, Father Manuel Prat (馬守仁), a Dominican priest serving as pastor of the Catholic church in Luocuo, purchased land in central Taichung and established a mission station. In 1915, the property was converted into a two-story building, with a temporary chapel downstairs and living quarters for the priests upstairs. Father Angel Rodriguez (洪羅烈) arrived in February 1916 as the first resident pastor. In 1919, a second church was built on the same site: a red-brick Gothic building laid out in the shape of the Chinese character for "mountain" (山). Dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, it remained in use until 1956. In 1927, the pastor, Father Francisco Giner (高熙能), published Taiwan's first Catholic hymnal in the Taiwanese language at the Taichung church.
The Maryknoll Period (1950–2003)
In August 1950, the Holy See separated territory from the Apostolic Prefecture of Kaohsiung to establish the Apostolic Prefecture of Taichung, entrusting it to Maryknoll. In January 1951, Father William F. Kupfer was appointed its first apostolic prefect.
The present building is the parish's third church. Designed by Maryknoll Brother Albert Staubli (雅聞道), it was begun in 1957 during Father James T. Manning's (萬民寧) tenure as pastor. Construction was completed in 1958, and the church was consecrated by Kupfer, then Prefect Apostolic, and dedicated to Christ the Saviour. The relief of the Ascension above the main entrance is the work of sculptor Chen Hsia-Yu (陳夏雨).
In 1962, the apostolic prefecture was elevated to the Diocese of Taichung, and the church became its cathedral. Kupfer was installed there as the first bishop on September 23 of that year. In 1987, a visiting delegation from the Archdiocese of Daegu, South Korea, presented the cathedral with a relic of a Korean martyr for veneration.
The Diocesan Clergy Period (2003–Present) Since 2003, the parish has been served by priests of the Diocese of Taichung. Construction of the activity center next to the church began during Father Hsu Shih-Chao's (徐世昭) tenure (2008–2014). His successor, Father Liu Lien-Yu (劉連玉), completed the center and renovated the church. In December 2014, the parish began a yearlong celebration of the centennial of its founding.
Pastors The parish lists the following pastors.
No. Chinese name Name Tenure Affiliation Founder Manuel Prat 1914–1916 Dominicans 1 Angel Rodriguez 1916–1919 Dominicans 2 Buenaventura Gordaliza 1919–1923 Dominicans 3 Francisco Giner 1923–1937 Dominicans 4 José Arregui 1937–1942 Dominicans 5 Constantino Montero 1942–1946 Dominicans 6 Felix Sanchez 1946–1950 Dominicans 7 Marcelino Delgado 1950–1951 Dominicans 8 John J. Sullivan 1951–1953 Maryknoll 9 Mo Sheng-Tsai 1954–1956 Maryknoll 10 James T. Manning 1957–1959 Maryknoll 11 John P. McKernan 1959–1965 Maryknoll 12 Eugene M. Murray 1965–1967 Maryknoll 13 John B. Keaney 1967–2003 Maryknoll 14 Liu Cheng-Hsiang 2003–2008 Diocese of Taichung 15 Hsu Shih-Chao 2008–2014 Diocese of Taichung 16 Liu Lien-Yu 2014–2020 Diocese of Taichung 17 Huang Ching-Fu 2020–present Diocese of Taichung
Registered cultural artifacts On August 25, 2022, the Taichung City Government registered the church's stone baptismal font, a cyanotype (blueprint) score of Taiwanese-language hymns (藍曬技法臺語聖歌古樂譜), register of the deceased, Confirmation Register 1, Baptismal Register 1, and Baptismal Register 2 as general antiquities under the municipality's cultural heritage designation system.
See also Catholicism in Taiwan List of cathedrals in Taiwan
References
External links Diocese of Taichung: Catholic Church Cathedral of Christ the Saviour Parish website (English)