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.

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Catholic Interracial Council

In the 1930s, there was a growing interest in cooperation between white and black Catholics to work against prejudice and towards interracial justice. This led to the creation of the Catholic Interracial Council of New York in 1934 by Father John LaFarge, S.J.[1] LaFarge hoped that local chapters would be

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Catholic Philopatrian Literary Institute

The oldest Catholic lay educational society in America was founded on December 22, 1850 by Father Edward Sourin (later a member of the Society of Jesus).[1] Named, Catholic Philopatrian Literary Institute, it was organized as a fraternal setting in which young Catholic men could “cultivate and improve the minds… and

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TV and Radio

The Catholic Church has a long history of using television and radio to communicate to the faithful. One of the first successful instances was in 1930 with Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s popular radio show, The Catholic Hour. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia began its own radio apostolate in 1944 and would add

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