Bishop William K. Weigand presided at an elaborate rededication Mass on the feast of Christ the King before an overflow crowd of 1,200 invited guests, including more than 100 priests and 30 bishops from across the country and parishioners from the diocese’s 101 parishes.

“The church asked its members to step forward to take part in the restoration of this cathedral, this great work of art,” said Spokane Bishop William Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who gave the homily. “Whether through donations large or small, through labor or through prayer, so many thousands of California Catholics have offered moments of everyday life — portions of their lives — to reach out to future generations.”

Bishop Skylstad said the restored cathedral is a testimony to the faith of the people of the diocese — past, present and future. “The most important stones in this cathedral are the people gathered here — the living stones, the cornerstones of our church,” he said.

The rededication, which lasted nearly three hours, included the placing of a relic of St. Toribio Romo in the new marble altar in the sanctuary. A number of descendants of the Mexican saint’s family live in Sacramento and the Central Valley and some of them participated in the Mass.

Other highlights of the rededication included:

• The ceremonial opening of the cathedral’s main doors by Father James Murphy, rector of the cathedral.

• The sprinkling of the cathedral. Bishop Weigand blessed water taken in part from the American and Sacramento Rivers and with it sprinkled the people and walls of the cathedral. He was joined by Auxiliary Bishop Richard Garcia, Bishop Emeritus Francis Quinn and Bishop Joseph Madera, retired Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services.

• The anointing of the altar with sacred chrism, or oil, by Bishop Weigand. Bishops Garcia, Quinn and Madera, and other priests also anointed the walls of the cathedral, signifying that they are given over entirely to Christian worship.

• Incense burned on the altar to signify that Christ’s sacrifice, perpetuated in mystery, ascends to God as an odor of sweetness and that the people’s prayers rise up to reach the throne of God.

• The inauguration by Bishop Weigand of the cathedral’s new Blessed Sacrament Chapel. Just prior to the end of the Mass, the bishop placed the Eucharist in the tabernacle. The 96-seat chapel in the east end of the church encompasses a 20-foot high tabernacle tower and a 100-year-old sanctuary lamp that been taken out of the cathedral during a renovation in the 1930s.

Every part of the cathedral was updated in the restoration, from expanded pews to better lighting to decorative painting on the interior walls and ceiling. The massive stained glass windows in the building were cleaned and releaded. The church includes a new bishop’s cathedra (episcopal chair) and ambo of mahogany.

Above the altar hangs a 13-foot crucifix with a crown overhead that is 14 feet in diameter. Combined they weigh almost 2,000 pounds and are held in place with aircraft cables.

The interior dome of the cathedral, which stands 110 feet high, was rebuilt, some 70 years after the original one was blocked from view. The dove in the oculus, with a wingspan of seven feet, is “a dramatic reminder of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the life of the church, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist,” according to Father Murphy.

Sixteen large roundels, each five feet in diameter, decorate the new dome, portraying eucharistic scenes from Scripture.

An octagon-shaped marble baptismal font with a decorative mosaic is at the entrance to the cathedral.

Two side chapels — the Martyrs Chapel and the Chapel of Our Lady and Saints of the Americas — provide a space for private devotion to the saints. Two 20-foot high murals, painted by artists from EverGreene Painting Studios in New York, adorn the chapels.

The restoration is the largest financial project the diocese has ever undertaken, with the $34 million cost coming from various sources. The diocese’s 2002 capital campaign provided $10 million and another $10 came from diocesan investments. An additional $2 million was raised by cathedral parishioners. Diocesan officials are now conducting a campaign for the remaining $12 million.

The cathedral “images for us our baptismal call to holiness and serves as a reminder of all the divine mysteries,” Bishop Weigand said at end of the rededication Mass. “I hope all in the community will use the cathedral as a sacred space for prayer.”

At an evening Vespers service offered for the public, religious leaders and civic officials, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles paid tribute to Bishop Patrick Manogue, first bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento, who built the cathedral and dedicated it in June 1889. The total bill for the cathedral at that time was $250,000.

Bishop Manogue “was the only member in the American hierarchy to have actually been a gold prospector in his early years,” the cardinal said. “But when it came to paying for his cathedral, he was close to penniless. He left it to God to defray the expense and somehow it worked.”

Cardinal Mahony said he hoped the cathedral would continue to be “a beacon of lively faith, eucharistic hope, and generous charity for yet many more generations to come.”

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