The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is a historic

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 denominations ...

and

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

located in Paterson, Passaic County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, United States. It is the seat of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson The Diocese of Paterson is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States that encompasses Passaic, Morris, and Sussex counties in northern New Jersey. Most of this territory lies to the west of th ...

. The cathedral was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1977.

History

By the middle of the 1820s, there were definite indications that the local Catholic population was expanding. Coupled with the tremendous growth of Paterson industries, there was an insistent demand for skilled millhands and other types of workers. By 1870, the U.S. Census reported that Irish immigrants constituted the dominant foreign-born population in the city. The majority of the Irish, along with other immigrant classes, lived in ramshackle tenement houses within almost walking distance of the great mills. Most conspicuously, the Irish clustered about Grand Street, and this area became known as the "Dublin" section of Paterson. It was there, among the Irish-Catholic immigrants, that Father

William N. McNulty William N. McNulty (1829–1922) was an American Catholic Church, Catholic priest and Dean (Christianity), dean, who arrived in New York City, New York from his native Ballyshannon, Ireland, in 1850, during the Great Famine (Ireland), Great Fam ...

began his priestly duties. Two years after arriving in Paterson to take "charge of the fortunes and spiritual welfare" of the rapidly growing Catholic population, Father McNulty entered into negotiations with the powerful industrial corporation, the

Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures The Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.) or Society for the Establishment of Useful Manufactures was a private state-sponsored corporation founded in 1791 to promote industrial development along the Passaic River in New Jersey in ...

("S.U.M."), and in 1865 purchased from it sixteen lots on the corner of Grand and Main streets thus ensuring the future of a more larger St. John's Church (later Cathedral of St. John the Baptist). The new enterprise seemed to infuse new vigor into the members of the congregation, and the full amount of the purchase money of the real estate ($10,000) was raised in two months. Preparations were made for the construction of the new church, New York architect P. C. Keely was retained in order to develop plans "for an edifice ... unequaled in New Jersey", and on September 10, 1865, the corner-stone was laid. The church was ready for use in the summer of 1870, and a final tabulation a number of years later revealed that approximately $200,000 had been spent in the course of construction. It was raised to cathedral status when the Diocese of Paterson was established in 1937. File:Cathedral of St. John the Baptist - Paterson, New Jersey 07.jpg, Chapel of Our Lady File:Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Rectory - Paterson, New Jersey.jpg, Rectory File:Cathedral of St. John the Baptist - Bishop Frank J. Rodimer Parish Center.jpg, Bishop Frank J. Rodimer Parish Center File:Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Evangelization Center - Paterson, New Jersey.jpg, Evangelization Center File:Cathedral of St. John the Baptist - Dean McNulty.jpg, Dean McNulty memorial File:Interior, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Paterson, New Jersey).jpg, Interior, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist File:Interior rear, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Paterson, New Jersey).jpg, Rear of Cathedral of St. John the Baptist File:Stained Glass left, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Paterson, New Jersey).jpg, Stained Glass on the left side of the cathedral File:Stained Glass right, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Paterson, New Jersey).jpg, Stained Glass on the right side of the cathedral File:Closeup, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Paterson, New Jersey).jpg, Closeup of the altar

References

External links

*
Official Cathedral SiteDiocese of Paterson Official Site
{{NRHP in Passaic County, New Jersey Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson Roman Catholic churches in New Jersey Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Gothic Revival church buildings in New Jersey Roman Catholic churches completed in 1865 John the Baptist, Paterson 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Churches in Passaic County, New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Passaic County, New Jersey Buildings and structures in Paterson, New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places

History

See also

References

External links