St. Peter's Pro-Cathedral is a Catholic church located in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Virginia, United States. It is the oldest Catholic church in the city. From the erecting of the

Diocese of Richmond The Diocese of Richmond ( la, Diœcesis Richmondiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its current territory encompasses all of central and southern Virginia, Hampton Roads, ...

in 1850 until the completion of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in 1906, St. Peter's Church served as the cathedral and seat of the diocese. Originally, the church was predominantly

Irish American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

. The church continued to serve a congregation of approximately 300 as of 2011. After the Civil War, St. Peter's basement hosted the city's "colored Catholics." The 13-member congregation included Emily Mitchell (born into slavery in 1824, brought from

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

and later serving Bishop

James Gibbons James Cardinal Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was a senior-ranking American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as ninth ...

), Julia Grandison (baptised in Georgia and brought to Richmond at age 9), Moses Marx (who began driving Bishop John Keane's buggy at age 12), Liza Marx (who learned to read and reminded the judge reading her mistress' will that he forgot the lines bequeathing money to Elizabeth Thompson and her next child of issue), and Julia Flippen as well as her children. When the congregation had increased to about 50, including children, Bishop Keane signed a deed for what became St. Jos Church on

Shockoe Hill Shockoe Hill is one of several hills on which much of the oldest portion of the City of Richmond, Virginia, U.S., was built. It extends from the downtown area, including where the state capitol complex sits, north almost a mile to a point wher ...

, also inviting the Josephites for help in furthering the Black apostolate. In 2020 the parish was designated a pro-cathedral as part of the

bicentennial celebration.

Gallery

Image:Saint Peter's Church Richmond, Virginia.jpg, A photograph of the church from a 1914 publication

References

19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Roman Catholic churches completed in 1834 Roman Catholic churches in Richmond, Virginia Former cathedrals in the United States Irish-American culture in Virginia Irish-American history National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, Virginia Neoclassical architecture in Virginia Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Roman Catholic cathedrals in Virginia Neoclassical church buildings in the United States {{Virginia-church-stub Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart

Gallery

See also

References