St. Peter Claver
On March 26, 1889, Archbishop Patrick Ryan wrote 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
Day of Great Joy: Sisters of St. Joseph in Philadelphia
Bishop Kenrick wrote that May 4, 1847 was a day of great joy for the Diocese of Philadelphia because it was on that day after weeks of traveling across the country from St. Louis, the Sisters of St. Joseph arrived to take control of St. John’s Orphanage.[1] Bishop Kenrick had
The Church and Labor
CHRC has a large collection of pamphlets and writings that deal with Catholics and its teaching on the economy. The Catholic Church has a long connection to labor and the plight of the worker, beginning with Pope Leo XIII's famous Encyclical, Rerum Novarum (Latin for Of New Things), published in
Building of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a diocese must be in want of a cathedral. When the Diocese of Philadelphia was established in 1808, Bishop Michael Egan made Old St. Mary’s the first Cathedral of the diocese.[1] In 1837, Bishop Francis Kenrick tried to moved his seat to St.