Mar 17, 2005 / 22:00 pm
While Bishop Robert Morlino is still lamenting the gutting of St. Raphael Cathedral, spiritual home of nearly 270,000 Catholics in the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, to fire, he has a lot to be grateful for.
The 150-year old building may be beyond repair but the Bishop expressed his gratefulness that no one was hurt in Monday’s early morning blaze.
Bishop Morlino told a press conference on Tuesday that he would not tire of telling the story of the Madison firefighters who risked their lives struggling through the unstable, burned-out cathedral to rescue the consecrated Eucharist hosts.
He said that the firefighters "went in there and had to cut their way through and they brought it out with great reverence.”
The diocese is currently exploring whether the cathedral, parish home to over 350 families, will be repaired or rebuilt entirely.