History in Colour: Emmanuel Cathedral, Durban
Top: Emmanuel Caedral, colourised from a black and white photo (bottom right). Bottom left: The very first issue of The Southern Cross newspaper being sold at Emmanuel Cathedral in October 1920
A snapshot from the past, colourised exclusively for The Southern Cross
Emmanuel Cathedral in Durban is seen in an undated photo, likely from the first couple of decades in the 20th century. The first stone of the cathedral was laid by Bishop Charles Jolivet in January 1902, and it was officially dedicated in November 1904. In the intervening 120 years, it has served as the seat of only four ordinaries: Bishop Henri Delalle, Archbishop Denis Hurley, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier (for just over two years with the late coadjutor Archbishop Abel Gabuza), and current incumbent Archbishop Siegfried Mandla Jwara.
Emmanuel Cathedral replaced the nearby St Joseph’s church as the seat of Durban’s bishop. St Joseph’s, built in 1875, was dismantled and rebuilt in Greyville (today it is the Sao Jose church of the Portuguese community).
In 1973, the cathedral had a close shave with destruction when it was to be demolished to make way for a freeway. Happily, the position of the flyover was moved and the cathedral survived.
A part of St Augustine’s School is visible behind the cathedral. That building, by now dilapidated, was demolished in 2013 to make way for the Denis Hurley Centre.
For a hundred years, Emmanuel Cathedral was a great supporter of The Southern Cross. At bottom left is a photo of the very first issue of the newspaper being sold there in October 1920.
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