Wait, don’t run away! Sure, it’s Camden. But Camden sometimes gets a bad rap. It’s mostly deserved. However, there are parts of Camden that aren’t complete disasters, and going there doesn’t necessarily mean taking your life in your hands. The place is shady as hell, but we’ve seen far worse.
As for why we’re here, well, it’s another case of the Philadelphia-Area Church Project. Like it or not, Camden is a fairly historic city in its own right, and there are some pretty interesting church finds to be had. What better place to start with than with the mother church of the Diocese of Camden, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
Church Project Theorem #22: The Immaculate Inception
The Immaculate Conception—Mary’s creation without original sin—is one of the central dogmas of Catholic theology, and is one of the stark differences between Catholicism and Protestantism. As a result, Catholics like to use the Immaculate Conception name. A lot. So much so that it’s more prevalent than any other name. In any given area, more Catholic institutions will bear the name Immaculate Conception than any other moniker. No matter where you go, you’re virtually guaranteed to find at least one Immaculate Conception, if not more.
For the Project’s purposes, there are three of them in Philly alone, this one across the river in Camden, and one right outside city limits in Jenkintown. That’s five, count ‘em, five Immaculates in one metropolitan area. I’m not even counting the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal, which used to be known as the Public Chapel of the Immaculate Conception.
(And yes, I plotted them, and no, their locations don’t form a mysterious geographic shape. Unless you count a misshapen line as a harbinger of doom.)
Anyhow, back to the task at hand. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is an enjoyable building, if not a completely stellar one. There are some things to like here, such as the high-quality stained glass, soaring gothic columns and nifty organ. Negatives include the use of the Project’s archenemy, wooden ceiling beams, as well as a reliance on generally unadorned white plaster. Oh, and the altar, while done in an interesting green marble-like substance, possibly green marble, suffers from having no real back piece, so it’s not as impressive as it could be.
LOOK FOR IT: The stations of the cross are actually done in copper. You can tell because most of them are slowly turning various shades of green.
LOOK FOR IT, PT 2: The exterior is notable for having some lovely garden work, which you don’t see much in city parishes.
It’s not an upper-echelon church, but I like it enough to recommend it.
Size Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Ornamentation Rating: 8 out of 10
Overall Design Rating: 8 out of 10 crosses
