St. Peter Cathedral is a
Chaldean Catholic
The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic particular church ('' sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is headed by the Chaldean Patriarchate. Employing in its liturgy the East Syri ...
cathedral
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
located in
El Cajon, California
El Cajon ( , ; Spanish language, Spanish: El Cajón, lit. 'the box') is a city in San Diego County, California, United States, east of downtown San Diego. The city takes its name from Rancho El Cajon, Rancho El Cajón, which was named for the ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It is the seat for the
Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle
Chaldean Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle () is a Chaldean Catholic Church eparchy of the Catholic Church in the Western United States. It practices the Syro-Oriental Rite in the Syriac/Arameic language. It is exempt, i.e. immediately subject ...
.
History
The first Chaldean Catholic Assyrian people to immigrate to the United States arrived at the end of the nineteenth century. Although small in number, they were spread across the country by the middle of the twentieth century.
St. Peter Chaldean Catholic parish was established in 1973 with Father Peter Kattoula as its first pastor.
The present
church building
A church, church building, church house, or chapel is a building used for Christian worship services and Christian activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 AD and 256 AD.
''Church'' is also ...
was completed in 1983 and dedicated on September 10 of that year. It has a seating capacity of 600 people.
The church hall was opened on November 29, 1989. It became a cathedral when the Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle was established in 2002.
In September 2020 the cathedral was vandalized with graffiti of contradictory messages including among other things
pentagram
A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle around ...
s,
upside down crosses,
white power
White pride and white power are expressions primarily used by white separatist, white nationalist, fascist, neo-Nazi, and white supremacist organizations in order to signal racist or racialist viewpoints. It is also a slogan used by the promi ...
,
swastika
The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...
s, "
BLM", and "
Biden 2020
On April 25, 2019, former vice president Joe Biden released a video announcing his candidacy in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. On November 3, 2020, Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, defeated incumbent Republican pr ...
".
Community outreach
St. Peter Cathedral collaborates with local organizations such as the
Mar Toma Council, a
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic Church, Catholic Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. ...
council, to support community initiatives. In 2014, the cathedral hosted a fundraising event with the Mar Toma Council that raised $650,000 for
Christian refugees impacted by conflicts in
Mosul
Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...
and the
Nineveh Plains
Nineveh Plains (, Modern ; ; ) is a region in Nineveh Governorate in Iraq. Located to the north and east of the city Mosul, it is the only Christian-majority region in Iraq and have been a gathering point for Iraqi Christians since 2003. Control o ...
. These efforts were part of broader activities to support displaced communities in
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
,
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
,
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, and
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
.
See also
*
List of Catholic cathedrals in the United States
The Catholic Church in the United States comprises ecclesiastical territories called dioceses, eparchies, and ordinariates led by prelate Ordinary (church officer), ordinaries known as bishops. Each bishop is assigned to a cathedral from which ...
*
List of cathedrals in the United States
This is a list of cathedrals in the United States, including both actual cathedrals (seats of bishops in Episcopal polity, episcopal Christian groups, such as Catholic Church, Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy an ...
References
External links
Diocesan website
Christian organizations established in 1973
Churches completed in 1983
Assyrian-American culture in California
Eastern Catholic churches in California
Chaldean Catholic cathedrals in the United States
Churches in San Diego County, California
El Cajon, California
Byzantine Revival architecture in California
Eastern Catholic cathedrals in California
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