Remarks made by Bishop Burbidge to the Cathedral Parish at the 10:30am Mass on September 11th regarding the new Cathedral:

For all those who have died and those we remember today, eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.  May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

Dear friends, ever since the attacks of September 11^th and even today, our national leaders encourage us as a people to be joyful, to be courageous, to show that we believe in a future that is hope-filled, that is bright and that is promising.  We cannot stand still.  As Americans our leaders encourage us to move forward.

As a Church, we must do the same.  We cannot stand still.  We have a bright future, a promising future, and we must move forward.  It was an historic moment in the life of our Diocese this week, when I officially announced the planning of the building of a new Cathedral and gathering hall and parking facility to accommodate the ever-growing and vibrant population of our Diocese, a Diocese that has grown 42% in the past 10 years.  The Cathedral is the Mother Church, it belongs to all in the Diocese; and so our theme is, “Our Cathedral: One Faith, One People.” 

I want, in this construction project, in this building of a Cathedral campus, to make our Church proud, to make our Diocese proud, our city proud and our state proud.  And I’m so grateful for the support and encouragement I’ve received from our local civic leaders, the Chancellor of NC State and other leaders throughout our community.  How blessed we are, in building a new Cathedral, that we maintain this beautiful church in downtown Raleigh so that we continue to be a powerful and visible presence of the Church, vibrant and alive. How blessed we are for the opportunity to continue your long-standing outreach to the needy and to the poor and in fact to consider ways we may increase those efforts.

My staff and I and those working with our campaign have worked and will continue to work with your rector and with the talented leadership team he has put together, and with the staff and parishioners of Sacred Heart.

The co-chairs of our campaign are here with me today:  Dr. Henry Zaytoun from Our Lady of Lourdes and Mr. Timothy Mann from St. Thomas More in Chapel Hill. The honorary co-chairs are two priests who are pillars of this Diocese:  Msgr. Jerry Lewis and Msgr. John Wall. They will be assisted by my Vicar-General, Msgr. David Brockman.

We understand that this project certainly involves issues that must continue to be discussed here at Sacred Heart, and you have my word that we will continue to collaborate and work together.  We must do this as a team.  I have great confidence in Fr. Oschwald, great confidence in your Principal, Mrs. Moss, in the leadership teams they have put together and in this parish staff. 

This is a monumental task and none of us have ever done it before.  Along the way we probably will make some mistakes and discover some things we should have done a different way; certainly we will meet some obstacles and challenges.  And so we must carry this out in a spirit of trust, in a spirit of mutual respect, in a spirit of charity and above all with fervent prayer.  Whatever we do we do together for the glory and honor of God, whose divine assistance we must depend upon, and also with the powerful intercession of Mary our Mother, the Mother of the Church, the one who will lead and guide us.

Dear friends, please keep this special intention in your daily prayers.