The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, the mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, fully reopened yesterday after completing a restoration process that demanded almost 7 years.

The $40 million restoration began after the massive fire that ruined most of the church on December 18, 2001. Most of the money needed was received from insurance, while the rest was taken from private donors. Even though the fix took 7 years, the results managed to impress everyone present, as no detail was left uncovered.

"The rededication of this magnificent cathedral church speaks to all of us with such a wonderful sense of not only resurrection and renewal but of a recognition that through all that we have come together there is a constant sense of resilience arising from this cathedral in this great city," stated Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was happy to join church officials and the 3,800 parishioners at the rededication service.

The firefighters who were involved on Dec. 18, 2001’s incident were also present and joined Episcopal bishops and many leaders of other denominations, such as Cardinal Edward Egan, the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.

The event represented a great joy for everyone in attendance, as the end of the restoration process was awaited with enthusiasm for quite some time. 

The cathedral’s cornerstone was laid in 1892, but the cathedral was only dedicated on Nov. 30, 1941. It has a floor area of 121,000 square feet and a volume of 16,822,000 cubic feet.