Sacred Heart Cathedral of Guangzhou - Renovations

Renovations

Since its completion in 1888, the cathedral has seen three large renovations. The first one was in 1925, when then Bishop Antoine-Pierre-Jean Fourquet, M.E.P. (魏暢茂) replaced the timber roof, beams and steel staircases with concrete ones. After the Cultural Revolution, the government spent ¥150,000 for a second restoration in 1984 and 1986. The third one was initiated in 2004 and finished in the autumn of 2006. The church spent ¥3 million and local Catholics donated about ¥2 million for the ¥26 million project, while the rest was paid by the government. The aim of the restoration was to solve the problem of leakage by rebuilding the whole roof and all the beams, which was the most challenging part as the rib vault below needed to remain unaffected and intact. Most of 19th century stained glass was damaged during wartime and smashed in the Cultural Revolution, so new stained glass was made by a Philippine company specialising in church glass and reinstated. Therefore the new stained glass carries English texts rather than Latin and French texts which were on the original French glass. New lighting, audio and CCTV systems were also installed. The original French mechanical clock has long gone, so a new 750,000-yuan clock fit for the clock tower was made by a Chinese clock factory.