page_title: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Moscow)
section_title: Restoration and reconsecration
hierarchical_section_title: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Moscow) / History / Restoration and reconsecration
caption_attribution_description: English: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary, Moscow.
context_page_description: The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary is a neo-Gothic Catholic Church at Moscow's center, that serves as the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Moscow. Located in the Central Administrative Okrug, it is one of three Catholic churches in Moscow and the largest in Russia.
  The construction of the cathedral was approved in 1894 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs under Tsarist Russia. Groundbreaking was in 1899; construction work began in 1901 and was completed ten years later. Three-aisled and built from red brick, the cathedral is based on a design by architect Tomasz Bohdanowicz-Dworzecki. The style was influenced by Westminster Abbey and Milan Cathedral. With the help of funds from Catholic parishes in Russia and its neighbouring states, the church was consecrated as a chapel for Moscow's Polish parish in 1911. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Provisional Government was overthrown by the Bolsheviks and Russia eventually became part of the Soviet Union in 1922. Because the promotion of state atheism was a part of Marxist–Leninist ideology, the government ordered many churches closed; the cathedral was closed in 1938.
context_section_description: In the early 1990s, plans were made by the Office for Monument Protection to restore the church by 1997, the 850th anniversary of Moscow's foundation. This proposal was not implemented because of the dispute over occupancy. However, in 1995, the city determined that the parish would be responsible for restoration costs. A commission was founded for the planned restoration, chaired by parish priest Josef Sanevski, Russian historian Stanislav Durnin, and Polish building contractor and politician Grzegorz Tuderek.
  From 1996 to 1999, the church was restored with the help of sponsors EnergoPol, a Polish company, and Renovabis, a German association for Catholic churches. The Russian government provided funds towards the conclusion of the project. Reconstruction took place initially under the direction of Polish companies PKZ and Budimex, who completely restored the façade and roof. From September 1998, Father Andrzey Stetskevich and Jan Tajchman, architect and restorer from Toruń, Poland, jointly oversaw the work; they had previously headed the restoration of the Catholic Assumption Cathedral in St. Petersburg. (Stetskevich later rose to become vicar general of the Catholic Archdiocese of Moscow.) The interior fittings and the new altar were built by Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian experts. Companies in Moscow carried out all the internal and external marble work. The church furnishings were produced, under the direction of Vladimir Mukhin, by students from the St. Petersburg renovating school. Stained glass for the façade's rose window were made in Toruń, other windows were produced by Tolotschko, a Belarusian company from Hrodna. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was ceremonially reopened on 12 December 1999 and was reconsecrated by the Secretary of State of the Roman Curia, Angelo Cardinal Sodano. The cathedral incorporates a library, the editorial office of the Russian Catholic magazine The Catholic Messenger—The Light of the Gospel (Russian: Католический вестник — Свет Евангелия) as well as the local office for the Caritas charity.
caption: The restored cathedral at night. The exterior lighting was installed at the end of 2005.[10]
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