Saint Raphael's Cathedral is the cathedral and a parish for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison and was located in downtown Madison, Wisconsin at 222 West Main Street. In March 2005, the Cathedral building located at 204 West Main Street was heavily damaged in a fire and was demolished. The parish community remains active, and hopes to rebuild the cathedral. As of October 2015, no plans had been announced for the rebuilding. In late 2012, the diocese constructed a park on the site, called Cathedral Square or Cathedral Place featuring a Way of the Cross. History In the early 1840s, immigrants from Ireland settled in what would later become Madison. They were soon organized into a parish named after the Archangel Raphael. On August 15, 1842, Father Martin Kundig offered Mass for the first time in the old territorial capitol building. Governor James Duane Doty, a close friend of Father Samuel Mazzuchelli donated the land upon which the parish buildings and a later parking lot would be built. From 1842 until 1853, the parish did not have a church and often celebrated Mass in homes and in the state capitol. The first frame church building was constructed in 1848. It measured , but was sufficient size for the congregation at that time. In 1853, Father Francis Etchmann began constructing the most recent church building. The cornerstone was laid on May 28, 1854 by Bishop John Henni of the Diocese of Milwaukee. He dedicated the new building because the parish was under his jurisdiction at the time. The spire and bells were added in 1885. A rectory was added in 1897, and a new school building was dedicated in 1911. On January 9, 1946, Pope Pius XII created the Diocese of Madison for an 11-county area in the southwestern part of the state. Territory was taken from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and the Diocese of La Crosse to form the new diocese. St. Raphael's was then chosen as the Cathedral church for the Madison diocese. At the time of the parish's elevation to a cathedral, Msgr. William Mahoney was the pastor. Bishop William O’Connor was installed in St. Raphael's as the first Bishop of Madison on March 12, 1946. In October 1952 plans were announced to renovate St. Raphael's to better function as a cathedral. Construction began the following year. The Madison architecture firm John Flad & Associates and Rambusch Decorating