St. Mary's Church, officially the Church of the Holy Name of Mary, Our Lady of the Isle, 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 ...

parish church complex at 14 William Street, the corner of Spring Street and Memorial Boulevard, in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

within the

Diocese of Providence The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence ( la, Dioecesis Providentiensis) is a diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. The diocese was erected by Pope Pius IX on February 17, 1872 and originally comprised the entire state of Rhode ...

. It is the church of the oldest

Catholic parish In the Catholic Church, a parish ( la, parochia) is a stable community of the faithful within a particular church, whose pastoral care has been entrusted to a parish priest (Latin: ''parochus''), under the authority of the diocesan bishop. It is t ...

in the state. The church is also notable for hosting the wedding of

Jacqueline Bouvier Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A po ...

and Senator, later President,

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

in 1953.

Buildings

Three buildings comprise the complex: the brownstone

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

parish church; the parish house, formerly a school; and a convent. The church was built in 1848–52 to the design of renowned

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

architect Patrick C. Keely. The engineer for its construction was US Army Lieutenant

William S. Rosecrans William Starke Rosecrans (September 6, 1819March 11, 1898) was an American inventor, coal-oil company executive, diplomat, politician, and U.S. Army officer. He gained fame for his role as a Union general during the American Civil War. He was t ...

, who would rise to the rank of Major General in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. "On June 14, 1849, Bishop Bernard O'Reilly consecrated the building, committing it to the patronage of the Holy Name of Mary, Our Lady of the Isle." In 1865 the school was built directly east of the church, and also was designed by Keely. During the 1880s, the church erected two more buildings, neither of which were included in the nomination for 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 v ...

. A convent was built in 1880–81, designed by local architect

Dudley Newton Dudley Newton (1845-1907) was an American architect from Newport, Rhode Island. Newton was born in Newport in 1845. After an education in the Newport public schools until the age of 15, Newton began to study with George C. Mason, Newport' ...

. In 1991 that building was moved from its site at Spring and Gidley Streets to its current location at 398 Thames Street, where it serves as the Admiral Fitzroy Inn.''Statewide Historic Preservation Report N-N-3: The Southern Thames Street Neighborhood in Newport''. 1980. In 1886 Dudley also designed the rectory that burned in 1921. A new rectory, designed by Ambrose J. Murphy, was erected on the same site in 1924–5. In 1937 architect John F. Hogan altered both the church and school. In 1967, after the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

, East Providence architect Milton R. Kenyon further altered the church.

History

The

congregation was founded in 1828, and was the first established in the state.

and Senator

worshiped at pew number ten of the present church during their visits in Newport. The two married at St. Mary's on September 12, 1953, presided by Archbishop Richard Cushing and attended by more than 800 invited guests. A massive crowd of well-wishers filled the streets surrounding the church. In 2017 the church held a special series of tours and programs to commemorate the wedding and to raise funds to restore the choir gallery and its historic organ. The church was added to the

in 2008. Cranston Mayor

Allan Fung Allan Wai-Ket Fung (born February 25, 1970) is an American attorney and politician who served as Mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island from 2009 to 2021. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Rhode Island in the 2014 and 2018 elections as we ...

married Barbara Ann Fenton, a native of Newport, on June 18, 2016, with about 200 guests in attendance, in the church. The ceremony incorporated elements honoring both the bride's Irish heritage and the groom's Chinese heritage. Fenton was a parishioner of the church, and Fung converted to Catholicism before their wedding.

References

External links

Photos of the Kennedy wedding Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Marys Church, Newport, Rhode Island Roman Catholic churches completed in 1848 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Gothic Revival church buildings in Rhode Island Colonial Revival architecture in Rhode Island Churches in Newport, Rhode Island Roman Catholic churches in Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Newport, Rhode Island Historic district contributing properties in Rhode Island 1848 establishments in Rhode Island

Buildings

History

See also

References

External links