Saint Michael’s Cathedral was rededicated last night – September 29, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel (patron saint of the Archdiocese). The word cathedral comes from the Greek word kathedra, which means “seat or elevated throne”. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus uses this word when he says that the Scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’ “seat” (kathedra). The kathedra symbolized teaching authority. It was a common practice for Jewish rabbis to sit down while teaching, a practice which Jesus himself took up numerous times in the Gospels.
This image of the “seat of Moses” was transferred over to the Church from Judaism, because the Church is the fulfilment of Judaism; it is Judaism with the Messiah having come. Jesus passed his teaching authority to the apostles, who in turn passed their teaching to their successors, known as the bishops. The “cathedral” became known as the mother church of a diocese or archdiocese, because it contained the chair of the bishop.
Every parish church also contains a chair of this sort, which rightfully belongs to the bishop. But, since the bishop cannot physically be in each parish of his diocese to celebrate Mass every Sunday, he delegates some of his powers to men known as presbyters, or priests. When a bishop visits a local parish, the parish pastor must give way – and give his seat up – to the bishop.
A side note: many ask, “Why do parish churches and cathedrals need to be ‘dedicated’ in the first place?” The reason that these buildings are dedicated (or re-dedicated after being rebuilt, as is the case with St Michael’s) is that they’re truly “houses of the holy” (with apologies to Led Zeppelin). They are consecrated, or “set apart” for sacred use. Worship facilities belonging to many non-Catholic groups are often treated like multipurpose community centres. But a Catholic parish or cathedral is not just any building; it is the very house of God. Why? Because Jesus Christ, in his Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, is truly and substantially present in the Eucharist reserved in the tabernacle.