Overview

Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart is one of the United States’ greatest cathedrals and most exceptional Gothic Revival buildings. Rising from Newark’s highest ground and visible for miles, it spectacularly evokes its historic models. Gothic Pride sets Sacred Heart in the context of American cathedral building and, blending diverse fields, accounts for the complex circumstances that produced it. Calling upon a wealth of primary sources, Brian Regan describes in a compelling narrative the cathedral’s almost century-long history. He traces the project to its origins in the late 1850s and the great expectations held by the project’s prime movers-all passionate about Gothic architecture and immensely proud of Newark-that never wavered despite numerous setbacks and challenges. Construction did not begin until 1898 and, when completed in 1954, the cathedral became New Jersey’s largest church-and the most expensive Catholic church ever built in America. During Pope John Paul II’s visit to the United States in 1995, he celebrated evening prayer at the Cathedral. On that occasion, the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart was elevated to a basilica to become the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart.  Meticulously researched, Gothic Pride brings to life the people who built, contributed to, and worshipped in Sacred Heart, recalling such remarkable personalities as George Hobart Doane, Jeremiah O’Rourke, Gonippo Raggi, and Archbishop Thomas Walsh. In many ways, the cathedral’s story is a lens that lets us look at the history of Newark itself-its rise as an industrial city and its urban culture in the nineteenth century; its transformation in the twentieth century; its immigrants and the profound effects of their cultures, especially their religion, on American life; and the power of architecture to serve as a symbol of community values and pride..

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In his study of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, NJ, Mr. Regan has created a work that traces the origins of an often overlooked, but prime example of gothic revival architecture and a symbol of religious adherence to generations of Catholics through the course of state history. --New Jersey Studies Brian Regan brings his unique talents and exceptional knowledge of art, architecture, and history to tell the story of a 'hidden jewel' of the Northeast, Newark's Sacred Heart Cathedral. He weaves a tapestry that includes architects, artisans, prelates, politicians, and the people of New Jersey as he recounts the story of this magnificent building. --Msgr. Robert J. Wister, Hist.Eccl.D. Chair, Newark Archdiocesan Commission for the Ecclesiastical Patrimony Newark's early planners toured England and Ireland in search of the 'elder Pugin's' genius. Their keen hopes were to be realized in fascinating ways. Sacred Heart Cathedral represents a remarkable episode in the international Gothic Revival. --Dr. Roderick O'Donnell FSA, London, in L'Osservatore Romano A fascinating story--the first comprehensive study of the cathedral. --Jersey Journal In Gothic Pride, Brian Regan offers a comprehensive presentation of the motivation, characters, and development of this remarkable edifice. Regan's text has brought to life the cathedral's stone and artistry--and revived the spirit of the churchmen, architects, and craftsmen who contributed to Newark's Gothic Pride. --Sacred Architecture Gothic cathedrals are about light, the shadow of God--a parallel spiritual universe, a retreat from the mundane, a vision of heaven on earth. These 'sermons in stone' proclaim society's spiritual and civic aspirations. In crystalline and evocative prose, Regan illuminates a little-known American treasure. His landmark of scholarship and social history is as luminous as stained glass. --Charles Scribner III author of Bernini and Rubens The Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart never fails to excite the attention of auto, rail and air travelers, no matter how many times they've gazed at its magnificent Gothic Revival silhouette. Dominating a slight rise in Newark's North Ward and fringed to the west by Branch Brook Park, the edifice stands as testament to the perseverance (and sometimes hubris) of nearly a century of church leaders who were determined to flex the growing power of the state's new archdiocese and better serve its multicultural parishioners. The cathedral's intriguing back story, imaginatively and coolly captured by Brian Regan, deputy director of the Morgan Library & Museum, certainly validates the truism that the glory may be to God, but the devil is in the details. Gothic Pride is ecumenical in its historic, artistic and spiritual appeal and will resonate with any New Jersey homeowner who has dealt with design changes, fired builders or busted the budget to get their own 'cathedral' just right. --Star-Ledger Constructed between 1898 and 1954, Newark's Cathedral of the Sacred Heart stands as a monument to the ambitions and triumphalism of American Catholicism of that era. A well-written and engagingly-written book. --American Catholic Studies

In his study of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, NJ, Mr. Regan has created a work that traces the origins of an often overlooked, but prime example of gothic revival architecture and a symbol of religious adherence to generations of Catholics through the course of state history. --New Jersey Studies Brian Regan brings his unique talents and exceptional knowledge of art, architecture, and history to tell the story of a 'hidden jewel' of the Northeast, Newark's Sacred Heart Cathedral. He weaves a tapestry that includes architects, artisans, prelates, politicians, and the people of New Jersey as he recounts the story of this magnificent building. -- (10/06/2011) Newark's early planners toured England and Ireland in search of the 'elder Pugin's' genius. Their keen hopes were to be realized in fascinating ways. Sacred Heart Cathedral represents a remarkable episode in the international Gothic Revival. -- (03/06/2012) A fascinating story--the first comprehensive study of the cathedral. --Jersey Journal (04/18/2013) In Gothic Pride, Brian Regan offers a comprehensive presentation of the motivation, characters, and development of this remarkable edifice. Regan's text has brought to life the cathedral's stone and artistry--and revived the spirit of the churchmen, architects, and craftsmen who contributed to Newark's Gothic Pride. -- (09/01/2013) Gothic cathedrals are about light, the shadow of God--a parallel spiritual universe, a retreat from the mundane, a vision of heaven on earth. These 'sermons in stone' proclaim society's spiritual and civic aspirations. In crystalline and evocative prose, Regan illuminates a little-known American treasure. His landmark of scholarship and social history is as luminous as stained glass. -- (03/06/2012) Constructed between 1898 and 1954, Newark's Cathedral of the Sacred Heart stands as a monument to the ambitions and triumphalism of American Catholicism of that era. A well-written and engagingly-written book. --American Catholic Studies The Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart never fails to excite the attention of auto, rail and air travelers, no matter how many times they've gazed at its magnificent Gothic Revival silhouette. Dominating a slight rise in Newark's North Ward and fringed to the west by Branch Brook Park, the edifice stands as testament to the perseverance (and sometimes hubris) of nearly a century of church leaders who were determined to flex the growing power of the state's new archdiocese and better serve its multicultural parishioners. The cathedral's intriguing back story, imaginatively and coolly captured by Brian Regan, deputy director of the Morgan Library & Museum, certainly validates the truism that the glory may be to God, but the devil is in the details. Gothic Pride is ecumenical in its historic, artistic and spiritual appeal and will resonate with any New Jersey homeowner who has dealt with design changes, fired builders or busted the budget to get their own 'cathedral' just right. -- (12/16/2012)

Brian Regan brings his unique talents and exceptional knowledge of art, architecture, and history to tell the story of a 'hidden jewel' of the Northeast, Newark's Sacred Heart Cathedral. He weaves a tapestry that includes architects, artisans, prelates, politicians, and the people of New Jersey as he recounts the story of this magnificent building. --Msgr. Robert J. Wister, Hist.Eccl.D. Chair, Newark Archdiocesan Commission for the Ecclesiastical Patrimony (10/06/2011)

Author Information

BRIAN REGAN, deputy director of the Morgan Library & Museum, is coauthor of The Making of the Morgan from Charles McKim to Renzo Piano. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Harvard  and held a Watson  Fellowship.

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