Then and Now: Our Lady of Lourdes

Mon., Jan. 26, 2026

1908: On Thanksgiving Day in 1908, thousands wait in the chilly air on the sidewalk while Edward J. O’Dea, bishop of Seattle, and Alexander Christie, archbishop from Portland, enter first with a procession of priests and other attendants to pray and sprinkle holy water at the dedication of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church on lower Riverside Avenue. The church became the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes indicating that the church held a bishop’s seat, which represented the authority of the diocese leadership, which was formed in 1913. The diocese took the Spokane area from being an outpost of a large region of the church to a locally controlled organization. (Spokesman-Review photo archives)

By Jesse Tinsley jesset@spokesman.com (509) 459-5378

As early as the 1830s, Catholic missionaries fanned out across the region to teach Christianity to the Native tribes long before Spokane’s founding. Many of those priests were from the Society of Jesus, called the Jesuits, a large religious order that emphasized evangelism, education, charity and humanitarian work.

It was in 1881 that one of those Jesuits, Father Joseph Cataldo, began converting a wooden carpenter shop on Main Avenue into a simple church. The first mass had less than 10 people. But the Roman Catholic faith took hold and grew steadily.

In 1886, the tiny church was expanded and renamed Our Lady of Lourdes. Nuns from Sisters of the Holy Names opened a parochial school there. In the same era, Father Cataldo founded Gonzaga College and the Sisters of Providence nuns founded Sacred Heart Hospital.

Ground was broken in 1902 for a grand new church at Riverside Avenue and Madison Street. The construction costs totaled $200,000 and The Spokesman-Review said it was second in size and beauty only to the cathedral in Seattle.

At the dedication of the church on Thanksgiving Day 1908, Bishop Edward J. O’Dea of Seattle and Archbishop Alexander Christie of Portland, who oversaw the Spokane faithful, led the ceremonies and were joined by bishops from Helena and Boise along with dozens of priests from around the region. The family of mining magnate Patrick “Patsy” Clark was honored for donating the 30-ton stone altar, created in Italy.

Transitioning to leadership by a local bishop, the Diocese of Spokane was formed in 1913. The Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral became the mother church.

In summer 2025, the cathedral began a half-million-dollar project to rebuild the stone stairs leading up to the doors of the church. Earlier in the year, deterioration of the steps became evident when a parishioner almost broke through the 120-year-old stone steps, according to Rev. Darrin Connall.

The church fenced off the front entrance and Coman Construction and Excavation began removing the steps in July. The church started a fundraising drive which their website says has already exceeded the $500,000 goal. One of the fundraisers was selling the old granite steps to be used as decorative or commemorative pieces.