Also know as Cathedral Church of Our Lady of the Flight into Egypt. In 1805, three Dutch Catholic priests landed in the Cape "under the auspices of Propaganda Fide, the department at the Vatican which (renamed) still guides and aids the Church in South Africa" with the aim of seeking to evangelise the indigenous population. The three were deported once the British re-took the Cape from the Dutch in 1806 and plans for replacement clergy were blocked. A Catholic Bishop, Edward Slater OSB, transiting at Cape Town in 1820, installed Irish priest Patrick Scully "who soon initiated Sunday Mass at a storehouse on Buitenkant Street". In 1821, Fr Scully had obtained a large plot (corner of Caledon & Harrington Streets - now a car-park) on which to build a church, priest's house and school. Building began the year after, and if this church was still standing, it'd be the third oldest church in Cape Town. In 1836, the church underwent restoration and the roof was removed, but before it could be replaced a rainstorm collapsed the walls. The site was then divided into lots and sold.
In 1839 Bishop Griffiths purchased the Wachtenburg Garden from Baron Von Ludwig, together with a piece of ground in front known as Tanner's Square (Looyers Plein). Wachtenburg Garden had formerly been a masonic lodge and then a museum and was part of the larger Concordia Gardens. "It is interesting to note that the open space on the west side of St Mary's, which links Plein Street and St John's Street, is still known as Concordia Place. St Mary's Dominican Convent and grounds stand today on the site of the Wachtenburg Garden". On Sunday October 6th, 1841, the foundation stone of St Mary's Cathedral was laid and in 1851 the Church was completed. This bishop writes this of the dedication which took place in 1851, "On Monday April 28th (the Feast of St Mary of the Flight into Egypt being transferred to it from the day before ... the 4th Sunday of April) the new Church was opened at 10am when the Bishop of Bourbon (Reunion) Dr Des Pres, and Vicar Apostolic of Mission in China, Dr Verolies, with two Vicars General of the former and five other French clergymen of their suites, assisted at the dedication, performed by the Vicar Apostolic, with all the clergy of this Vicariate, Fathers A. McCarthy, J. Griffith, B. McMahon, J. Watkins. The officers and many of the crew of the French war steamer “Cassini” in which the bishops, etc. were proceeding to their respective destinations, were present and an overwhelming crowd of the people of the town. The ceremony commenced with a sermon and terminated with a Te Deum sung by the French clergy and officers, with four nuns and some French ladies, joined by our choir."
From 1865 to 1947, the Altar, bell, windows and sanctuary were renovated, remodelled, acquired or enlarged and in April 1951, one hundred years after the dedication, the Cathedral was consecrated by Archbishop Owen McCann, who later, on the 22nd of February 1965, became the first Cardinal in South Africa. In 1999 & 2000 more restorations to the Cathedral were made by Mgr Andrew Borello, which "brought about liturgical changes enhanced by well-executed structural changes. With the steady influx of foreign nationals from other African countries, the cathedral community took on yet another dimension. The introduction of the African Day Mass has seen the community enriched and celebrated in a distinctively African cosmopolitan spirit." Nigerian Mass is held on the first Sunday and Zimbabwean Mass on the third Sunday.
