St. Peter Claver

...to Mother Katharine Drexel to inform her that he had secured a priest to minister to the Black Catholics in Philadelphia.[1] There had been a growing need for a dedicated ministry for some time. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Black Catholics did not have a church of their own

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Philadelphia’s Third Archbishop

...s in the city alone, including St. Nicholas of Tolentine, Our Lady of Pompeii, and Our Lady of Consolation, were established during Prendergast’s brief tenure.   St. Nicholas of Tolentine Several Catholic institutions devoted to education and social services, some of which Archbishop Ryan had initiated, were completed and erected

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Cardinal Dougherty and His Golden Jubilee

Cardinal Dougherty exiting Stadium, 1990.193.B12 Over 160,000 people packed the Municipal Stadium (Later JFK Stadium) in South Philadelphia on June 2, 1940 to witness Cardinal Dougherty’s Golden Jubilee Mass.[1] The event was the largest gathering of Catholics in the city since 300,000 attended the 1926 Solemn Pontifical Mass for the

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The Centennial Fountain

...stinence Union of the Diocese of Philadelphia wanted to partake in the festivities. To do so, the organization proposed building a fountain in Fairmount Park to celebrate temperance, Catholicism, and Irish-heritage. In order to accomplish this plan, in 1873 the group brought a proposal forward at the third annual convention

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