Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Rapid City, South Dakota)


The Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a Catholic cathedral and parish church located in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States. Completed in 1962, it serves as the third cathedral of the Diocese of Rapid City.

History

The Diocese of Rapid City was founded as the Diocese of Lead in 1902. St. Patrick's in Lead served as the diocese's first cathedral. The See city was transferred to Rapid City in 1930 and St. Mary's Church downtown was renamed the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at that time. The parish started to outgrow the cathedral church and Mass was held in the school gymnasium. Bishop William T. McCarty, C.Ss.R. initiated the process to build a new cathedral. The cathedral rector, Msgr. Michael Roach, oversaw the construction of the new church on land donated on the outskirts of Rapid City by Katherine Wapole in memory of her husband William.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was designed by the local architectural firm of Ewing and Forrett, and the general contractor was the Brezina Construction Company. Groundbreaking for the new cathedral was held in 1960 and it was completed in 1962. It was placed under the patronage of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, an icon housed in the Church of St. Alphonsus Liguori in Rome. The cathedral was dedicated by Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi, Apostolic Delegate to the United States, on May 7, 1963. The exterior is clad in stone quarried in Mankato, Minnesota. The interior of the cathedral, designed in the Modernist style, features marble imported from Italy.