St Francis Xavier Cathedral

Geraldton’s first Bishop William Kelly  met John Cyril Hawes in Rome in 1913 and invited him to come to Western Australia and design a Cathedral for his newly formed diocese.

Fr Hawes arrived in WA during 1915, and by March 1916 began building St Francis Xavier Cathedral. The Diocese had not raised enough money to fund the building envisaged by Hawes so he planned to build the nave, narthex and twin west towers first, with a temporary timber and iron annex at the eastern end to serve as a sanctuary and sacristy. On Sunday 18 August 1918 the Archbishop Clune of Perth opened St Francis Xavier Cathedral.

In 1926  that Hawes was able to resume work on the cathedral, completing the Crypt Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows and commencing the sanctuary above the crypt. He designed the crypt to be a memorial for soldiers who had lost their lives in the First World War. The Presentation Sisters’ Chapel on the south side of the sanctuary was commenced in 1927, and the second stage of the cathedral was opened in December 1928.

The final stage of the building was begun in August 1937. The walls of the south transept and the octagonal drum were finished, and the north transept was built. The grand opening of St Francis Xavier Cathedral took place on Sunday 28 August 1938, twenty-five years after the initial designs were produced.

A landmark building of national and global heritage significance, particularly in terms of an expression of the very influential principles of the late 19^th century and early 20^th century Arts and Crafts Movement, which later gave rise to the Art Nouveau and Art Deco. It is “one of a kind” and without question in architectural terms at least, Australia’s most unique and significant Cathedral.