The Cathedral of Saint Patrick is the seat of the Diocese of Charlotte of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

in the United States. It 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 Diocese of Charlotte and is the seat of its bishop. In 1987, the cathedral was included as a contributing property in the Dilworth Historic District, listed on the

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 ...

. As of 2025, Very Reverend Christopher A. Roux is the rector of St. Patrick Cathedral.

History

Construction of St. Patrick as a mission church in Charlotte began on March 17,1938, with funds donated by John Henry Phelan to honor his parents. Frank Frimmer, an Austrian architect, was hired to design the church. St. Patrick was consecrated on September 4, 1939, by Bishop Eugene J. McGuinness from the Diocese of Raleigh. It became the first church in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

to be consecrated after it was completed. A

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 ...

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 ...

were added to St. Patrick in 1941. In 1942, the Diocese designated St. Patrick as a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

, with Monsignor Arthur R. Freeman as pastor. In 1972,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

erected the Diocese of Charlotte and designated St. Patrick Church as its cathedral. Monsignor Richard Allen was appointed as the first rector of the cathedral. St. Patrick underwent a major renovation that closed it for six months in 1979. The original high altar installed by the Benedictines, was replaced with a freestanding altar. The parish also added artwork of local and religious significance. In June 1979, Bishop Michael J. Begley presided over the celebration of St. Patrick's reopening. In 1996, the parish repositioned the altar,

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

, statues and ambo within the church and installed and a hardwood floor. They removed dark oak

wainscoting Panelling (or paneling in the United States) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity t ...

installed in 1979 to recreated the appearance of the interior in 1939. A permanent copper roof was installed in 2000.In 2007, the parish installed a 700-pound bell in the bell tower.It was originally cast in 1875 in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. A family life center was added to the church campus in 2008, In 2012, another renovation relocated the tabernacle, the

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

and the ambo, The parish removed the marble benches and the carved marble decoration along the center of the back sanctuary wall. They also restored the cover on the baptismal font. The parish in 2013 created a new main entrance with two staircases. A Celtic cross is installed on the railing. A Marian prayer grotto was constructed on the cathedral grounds in 2014. In 2024, the diocese announced plans to build a new cathedral to replace St. Patrick.

Architectural features

St Patrick has a gray

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

face, a 400-seat

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, a balcony and a 77-foot (23.7m) tall tower. The church has two side chapels, serving as shrines to the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

. The church proper has 300 ceiling tiles. The

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows were designed in

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They depict depicted 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 ...

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British culture, Romano-British Christian missionary and Archbishop of Armagh, bishop in Gaelic Ireland, Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Irelan ...

, Saint Joseph's deathbed scene,

King David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

with his lyre,

Saint Cecilia Saint Cecilia (), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman Christian virgin martyr, who is venerated in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Anglican Communion, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She became the ...

, and events in the life of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. The

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

contains relics of Saint Jucundius and Saint Justina. The

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

, installed in the balcony, was designed and manufactured by W. Zimmer and Sons of

Fort Mill, South Carolina Fort Mill, also known as Fort Mill Township, is a town in York County, South Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 24,521. Some businesses and residents in th ...

. It replaced the original Moller

References

External links

Official Cathedral Site

Diocese of Charlotte Official Site
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, state=collapsed Christian organizations established in 1938 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1939 Patrick Charlotte Churches in Charlotte, North Carolina Gothic Revival church buildings in North Carolina Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Historic district contributing properties in North Carolina Roman Catholic churches in Charlotte, North Carolina

History

Architectural features

See also

References

External links