St. Peter's Cathedral is the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral at 315 Wyoming Avenue in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

, and is the

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral church, or ...

of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton The Diocese of Scranton () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese, suffragan see of Archdiocese of Philadelphia, established o ...

. The entire St. Peter's Cathedral Complex is listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Description

The church was built in 1867, as the parish church of St.

Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was an Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. In 1622, Vincent was appointed as chaplain to the galleys. ...

. In 1883–84, a project was undertaken to remodel and embellish the church, which by now was the central church of the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

, and on September 28, 1884, the new mother church of the diocese was consecrated by Archbishop P. J. Ryan of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and its name changed to the Cathedral of St. Peter, marking its new role in the still-young diocese. The cathedral complex includes the adjacent

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

(1908) and

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. ''Note:'' This includes The original windows of the church contained simple red and white diamond-shaped panes. The stained glass windows now found in the cathedral date from the alterations begun in 1883. Much of this work can be attributed to the architect

Edwin Forrest Durang Edwin Forrest Durang (April 17, 1829June 7, 1911) was an American architect. He kept offices in Philadelphia and specialized in ecclesiastical and theatrical design. Life and career Durang was born in New York City, into a distinguished theatrica ...

and later to the German designer Frank Mayer. In addition to the use of stained glass in the clerestory and over the entrances, there are 15 grandiose windows focusing on the life of Christ and highlighting the Virgin Mary and other saints. Of special note are the windows depicting the

Annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...

, the Visitation, the Nativity, and the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, ''The Last Supper (Leonardo), The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic ...

. The complex was listed on the

in 1976. The present organ was built in 1979 by

Casavant Frères Casavant Frères () is a Canadian organ building company in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, which has been building pipe organs since 1879. As of 2014, the company has produced more than 3,900 organs. Company history Brothers Joseph-Claver (1855� ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, the firm's Opus 3414. In February 2008, the cathedral was chosen by EWTN's ''Cathedrals Across America'' series to host the globally televised Mass for the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter.

Cathedral staff

The Most Reverend The Most Reverend (abbreviated as The Most Revd or The Most Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. It is a variant of the mor ...

Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton *

Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

Dale R. Rupert, Pastor *

The Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

Thomas M. Muldowney, V.G., Vicar General *

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

Edward R. Shoener, Permanent Deacon *

Jeffrey J. Walsh, Episcopal Vicar for Clergy * Kathy Geiger, Business Manager * Marlene Lucchi, Secretary * Linda Phillips Orseck director of liturgical music * Paul Casparo, Sacristan

References

External links

Official Cathedral Site

Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter's Cathedral Roman Catholic churches completed in 1867 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Peter, Scranton Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Churches in Scranton, Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Scranton, Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania

Description

Cathedral staff

See also

References

External links