 On 17 January 1967 at 9 pm , a fire caused by an electrical short circuit caused extensive damage to the cathedral . On the Altar of Forgiveness , much of the structure and decoration were damaged including the loss of three paintings ; The Holy Face by Alonso López de Herrera , The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian by Francisco de <unk> and The Virgin of Forgiveness by Simon Pereyns . The choir section lost 75 of its 99 seats as well a painting by Juan Correa along with many stored books . The two cathedral organs were severely damaged with the partial melting of their pipes . <unk> by Rafael <unk> y <unk> , Juan Correa and Juan Rodriguez Juarez were damaged in other parts of the cathedral . After the fire , authorities recorded the damage but did nothing to try to restore what was damaged . <unk> discussions ensued among historians , architects and investigations centering on the moving of the Altar of Forgiveness , as well as eliminating the choir area and some of the <unk> . In 1972 , ecclesiastical authorities initiated demolition of the choir area without authorization from the Federal government , but were stopped . The government <unk> what could be saved and named Jaime Ortiz <unk> as director of the project to restore the cathedral to its original condition . Restoration work focused not only on repairing the damage ( using archived records and photographs ) , but also included work on a deteriorating foundation ( due to uneven sinking into the ground ) and problems with the towers . 
