Holy Trinity Church is a historic church building and former

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of the

Catholic Church 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 ...

located in the

Society Hill Society Hill is a historic neighborhood in Center City Philadelphia, with a population of 6,215 . Settled in the early 1680s, Society Hill is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Philadelphia.The Center City District dates the Free Soc ...

neighborhood of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Established in 1784, the church was a

national parish National parish is a type of Catholic parish distinguished by liturgical rites or nationality of the congregation; it is found within a diocese or particular Church, which includes other types of parishes in the same geographical area, each parish ...

for Germans and was the first national parish for any ethnicity in the United States. The church merged into a single

with St. Mary's Church in 2009, and closed in 2019. It is set to be relegated to profane but not sordid use in January 2023.

History

By the 1780s, half of Philadelphia's Catholic population was German, and they asked permission of

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 Apostolic Prefect of the United States, to build their own church. Holy Trinity Church was founded in 1784 by German-speaking Catholics, and in 1788, Carroll authorized it as a

for Germans. It was the first national parish for any ethnicity in the United States, and was the third parish established in the city of Philadelphia, predating the establishment of the

Archdiocese of Philadelphia The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. It covers the City and County of Philadelphia as well a ...

. The church building was constructed in 1789, and today is nearly identical to how it appeared then. The interior of the church and the roof were destroyed in 1860 by a fire started by a

firecracker A firecracker (cracker, noise maker, banger) is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang, usually for celebration or entertainment; any visual effect is incidental t ...

lit during a

Fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

celebration. Other alterations were made to the interior over the course of its history. The parish established an

orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...

in 1797 for children orphaned by the

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

epidemics, which was the first Catholic orphanage in the United States. Composer Robert Elmore was church organist from 1938 to 1955. The church building was inscribed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places as "Trinity Roman Catholic Church" on April 30, 1957, and is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

of the

historic district. The exterior cannot be altered without the approval of the Philadelphia Historical Commission. The church was also documented in the

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

. There is a small cemetery in Holy Trinity's

churchyard In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also ...

, which is also historically protected. The cemetery inspired the final scene in

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

's poem ''

Evangeline ''Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie'' is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in English and published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during t ...

''.

Merger with Old St. Mary's Church

In the 21st century, the number of parishioners declined because of the church's proximity to two nearby Catholic churches, Old St. Joseph's Church and Old St. Mary's Church, and the area no longer contains a significant German-speaking Catholic population. The church merged into the

of Old St. Mary's Church on July 1, 2009. After the merger, the church was infrequently used because of the poor condition of the roof and floors. Masses were celebrated on

holy days A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

other than

solemnities In the liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite, a solemnity is a feast day of the highest rank celebrating a mystery of faith such as the Trinity, an event in the life of Jesus, his mother Mary, his earthly father Joseph, or another important sain ...

, and from July 2013 to May 2015, Traditional Latin Masses were celebrated there. The last Mass was celebrated inside the church in 2017. In 2019, the cost to repair the building and install a new air conditioning and heating system was projected to be between $800,000 and $1 million, which Old St. Mary's Church deemed would pose a financial strain, in light of a small number of congregants at Holy Trinity Church. On July 25, 2019, the

Archbishop of Philadelphia The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. It covers the City and County of Philadelphia as well a ...

Charles Chaput Charles Joseph Chaput ( ; born September 26, 1944) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the ninth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, serving from 2011 until 2020. He previously served as arch ...

, decreed that effective September 3, the church would be relegated to profane but not sordid use, meaning that it would be closed as a place of worship and that St. Mary's Church would be permitted to sell it. On August 26, Archbishop Chaput delayed the implementation of that decree to November 12. On April 30, 2022, his successor, Archbishop Nelson J. Perez, withdrew the decree to relegate the church. On December 11, 2022, Archbishop Perez, decreed that, effective January 23, 2023, Holy Trinity Church would be relegated to profane but not sordid use.

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