Wisconsin diocese readies its own ‘Notre Dame’ comeback cathedral osvnews.com

The December reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris after a devastating 2019 fire marked “a beautiful symmetry” with a similar project underway in a U.S. diocese, a bishop told OSV News.

“It gives us great hope,” said Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison, Wisconsin.

In 2005, the Madison Diocese’s historic St. Raphael Cathedral was destroyed in a fire set by William Connell, a local man who had started the blaze after breaking into the church and stealing a bottle of wine. Connell, who was homeless, surrendered to police the following day. He said he was delusional at the time from not taking his antipsychotic medication. Connell agreed to a plea deal that saw him sentenced in 2007 to 15 years in prison followed by 15 years of extended supervision upon his release.

Then-Bishop Robert C. Morlino and Msgr. (later Bishop) Paul Swain, the cathedral rector, visited Connell in 2006 and extended their forgiveness. Bishop Morlino later noted that Connell had expressed genuine sorrow and “his hope that the cathedral will be rebuilt.”

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