Pope upgrades Amsterdam church to cathedral as a birthday gift

Pope Francis has upgraded the status of the large church opposite Amsterdam’s central station to that of a cathedral – as a gift to the Dutch capital on its 750^th anniversary.

The move means the St Nicholas basilica is now the official seat of a bishop – the highest regional official in the Catholic church.

The bishop will be head of the Haarlem-Amsterdam diocese, given Haarlem already has the Sint Bavo cathedral and it will remain the principle seat.

St Nicholas is the patron saint of Amsterdam and work on the church was completed in 1887. 

It underwent major renovations in the 1990s.

In December 2021, the basilica received a relic of St. Nicholas from Egmond Abbey. 

Said to be a fragment of the saint’s rib, the bone has been in the custody of the abbey since 1087.