The Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.

History

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish was established in 1919 when Bishop

Theophile Meerschaert Theophile Meerschaert (24 August 1847 – 21 February 1924) was a Belgian-born prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Oklahoma (and its predecessor) in the United States from 1891 until his death in 1924. Ear ...

, the first Bishop of Oklahoma City, assigned Monsignor Monnot its first pastor on January 19. Mass for the parish was initially celebrated in an automobile showroom on Classen Boulevard. The first church building was a wood structure built in May 1919 on NW 31st Street between Western and Lake. The following month the parish held a ground breaking for a combination church and school building. Construction of the present church building was begun on July 3, 1923, and was completed in February 1924. A frame rectory was completed in July of the same year.

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

elevated Our Lady of Perpetual Help to a cathedral in 1931, replacing St. Joseph Cathedral downtown.. Thirty Vietnamese families, refugees from the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, joined the parish in 1975. Their numbers have continued to grow in the succeeding years. The parish undertook a renovation project in 1993 that included a new pipe organ by W. Zimmer and Sons of

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, a new baptistery, electrical and other additions to the parish plant.

Past rectors

*Most Rev.

Edward Weisenburger Edward Joseph Weisenburger, J.C.L., is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as the bishop of the Diocese of Tucson in Arizona since 2017. He previously served as the bishop of the Diocese of Salina in Kansas from 2012 to ...

(2002-2012)

Parochial School

Our Lady of Perpetual Help School opened in September 1919 with 90 students in twelve grades. Three

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

, who resided in a frame house across the street, served as faculty. The parish changed the name of the school in 1932 to honor Bishop

John Carroll John Carroll may refer to: People Academia and science *Sir John Carroll (astronomer) (1899–1974), British astronomer *John Alexander Carroll (died 2000), American history professor *John Bissell Carroll (1916–2003), American cognitive sci ...

, the first Catholic Bishop in the United States. The parish added new wing to the school in 1939 and constructed a new convent in 1941. The former convent is now called Mercy Center and houses a variety of parish functions. As part of the 1993 renovation project the parish constructed a gymnasium and classroom building.

References

External links

Official Cathedral SiteRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City Official Site
{{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, state=collapsed Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City Christian organizations established in 1919 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1924 Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Oklahoma City Churches in Oklahoma City Italianate architecture in Oklahoma 1919 establishments in Oklahoma 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Italianate church buildings in the United States

History

Past rectors

Parochial School

See also

References

External links