Philadelphia’s First Catholic Cathedral

...races its history to 1763, when a second church was needed for the growing number of Catholics in the city. Built on land originally bought to serve as a cemetery for Old St. Joseph’s, Old St. Mary’s was referred to as “Mission Number 1” as St. Joseph’s was seen as

Continue reading

Parish and School Closing

...2, Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua announced plans to examine the closing of a number of parishes in North Philadelphia and the city of Chester. Both areas saw a major decrease in parishioners, with both areas losing around 60% of registered members from 1970 to 1990. Due to this and lingering financial

Continue reading

Catholics in WWII

...which Philadelphia had the second most with 51. As the war continued that number would increase to 68, unfortunately eight of those Philadelphia priests would die in the war, the most of any U.S. diocese.[7] Meyer Photo: Margherita Camp Chapel From his priests, Dougherty would often receive monthly progress reports

Continue reading

Philadelphia’s Third Archbishop

...igious life. Accepting an invitation from one of his uncles to come to the United States in 1859, Prendergast enrolled at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Overbrook, PA. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop James Frederick Wood on November 17, 1865. Edmond F. Prendergast, circa 1890   Prendergast

Continue reading