St. Mary's Church | |
Location | 232 Chapel St., Norfolk, Virginia |
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Coordinates | 36°50′49″N76°16′56″W / 36.84694°N 76.28222°W |
Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
Built | 1857 | -1858, 1894
Architectural style | Late Gothic Revival, Gothic Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 79003287 [1] |
VLR No. | 122-0024 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | May 25, 1979 |
Designated VLR | February 21, 1978 [2] |
Part of a series on |
Black Catholicism |
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Overview |
Catholic Churchportal |
The Minor Basilica of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception (also known as the Black Basilica) is a Black Catholic parish in downtown Norfolk, Virginia. It is the oldest parish in the Diocese of Richmond and is known locally as "The Mother Church of Tidewater Virginia".
The church was built in 1857–1858, and is a rectangular stuccoed brick church. It features a centrally located, three-stage tower with spire. Also on the property is the contributing rectory. It is a three-story, rectangular brick building in the Late Gothic Revival style. [3]
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and named a minor basilica in 1991. The associated Saint Mary's Catholic Cemetery was added in 2001. [1]
The parish began in 1791 as Saint Patrick Church founded by French Catholics fleeing the French Revolution who were joined by some of the earliest Irish Catholic immigrants to the United States. St. Patrick's was the oldest parish in the Richmond Diocese and predated the formation of the diocese by 29 years. [4]
The first church edifice was built in 1842.
Since it was in the Southern United States, the racially segregated Christian church was for Whites only. Fr. Matthew O’Keefe initiated permitting African American Catholics to sit in an assigned portion of the choir loft for their use only. [5] The anti-Catholic Know Nothings threatened him unless the church instituted segregated Masses, which he refused. Thugs tried to intimidate White parishioners until Fr. O’Keefe obtained police protection.
The church was destroyed by fire in 1856. [6] Diocesan records show that local Catholic families believed the Know Nothings were responsible. "The Assumption," a painting donated by King Louis Philippe and Queen Amelie, was lost in the blaze.
The present building was completed in 1858 and was rededicated under the title of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception in commemoration of the Marian dogma proclaimed in 1854 by Pope Pius IX.
The parish supported St. Mary Academy, an inner-city school that provided a Christian education to hundreds of urban children, most of whom were non-Catholic; however, circumstances eventually forced the academy to close. The parish also operates a soup kitchen and provides other outreach to Norfolk's poor and homeless.
In 1961, seventy-two years after its founding, Saint Joseph's—a nearby Black Catholic parish staffed by the Josephites—was clustered with Saint Mary's. The newly combined parish would later boast 99% African American membership.
After being added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and undergoing an extensive renovation and restoration program, the edifice was rededicated on November 1, 1989.
On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the church, December 8, 1991, Pope John Paul II proclaimed the Church of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception a minor basilica, the only one in the Commonwealth of Virginia and one of only a few with African-American predominance. In his announcement, the pope stated:
"Your Black cultural heritage enriches the Church and makes her witness of universality more complete. In a real way the Church needs you, just as you need the Church, for you are a part of the Church and the church is part of you."
Despite the renovations in 1979, a litany of structural issues developed, with a 2015 inspection revealing massive rot and termite damage in the walls and roof. This kickstarted a second restoration project, to the tune of some $6.7M, which was completed in December 2020.
During the project, discovery was made of a series of crypts and tunnels under the church floor, the latter of which are speculated to have been involved with the Underground Railroad. [7] The restoration also brought back into use the church's historic organ, which had laid dormant since 1981. [8]
When Fr. Matthew O'Keefe moved north to Maryland, he modeled his new church after St. Mary's. Completed in 1906, Church of the Immaculate Conception in Towson shares the blueprints of St. Mary's with the exceptions of a larger rose window rather than a spire, thicker interior columns, and brownstone accents to the buttress and windows. Father O'Keefe, the first pastor of the new St. Mary's (Norfolk) and Immaculate Conception (Towson), is buried beneath the altar of the latter.
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Syracuse, New York is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse. It is the seat of the Bishop of Syracuse, currently Douglas Lucia.
The Basilica of Saint Mary is a Roman Catholic minor basilica located on its own city block along Hennepin Avenue between 16th and 17th Streets in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was the first basilica established in the United States. The Basilica of Saint Mary is the co-cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is a cathedral serving Roman Catholics in the U.S. city of Mobile, Alabama. It is the seat of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile. The cathedral is named for Mary, mother of Jesus, under her title, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing property to the Church Street East Historic District and Lower Dauphin Street Historic District and is listed on the Historic Roman Catholic Properties in Mobile Multiple Property Submission
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Notre Dame, Indiana, is a Catholic church on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, also serving as the mother church of the Congregation of Holy Cross (C.S.C.) in the United States. The neo-gothic church has 44 large stained glass windows and murals completed over a 17-year period by the Vatican painter Luigi Gregori. The basilica bell tower is 230 feet (70 m) high, making it the tallest university chapel in America. It is a contributing building in Notre Dame's historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The basilica is a major tourist attraction in Northern Indiana, and is visited annually by more than 100,000 tourists.
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is a Catholic Cathedral located in Camden in Camden County, New Jersey. It is the seat of the Diocese of Camden, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 as the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Built in 1864, it was officially designated as a cathedral in 1937.
Patrick Charles Keely was an Irish-American architect based in Brooklyn, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island. He was a prolific designer of nearly 600 churches and hundreds of other institutional buildings for the Roman Catholic Church or Roman Catholic patrons in the eastern United States and Canada, particularly in New York City, Boston and Chicago in the later half of the 19th century. He designed every 19th-century Catholic cathedral in New England. Several other church and institutional architects began their careers in his firm.
St. Mary's Basilica – officially The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary – is a church of the Diocese of Phoenix located at 231 North 3rd Street at the corner of East Monroe Street in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. It was previously known as St. Mary's Church. It was built from 1902 to 1914 in a combination of the Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival styles, and was dedicated in 1915. It replaced an earlier adobe church built in 1881 when the parish was founded. From 1895 the parish was staffed by the Franciscan Friars, but it is currently staffed and operated by clergy of the Diocese of Phoenix. The current church was elevated to a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1985.
The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is a historic Catholic church in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. A parish church in the Diocese of St. Augustine, it represents Jacksonville's oldest Catholic congregation. The current building, dating to 1910, was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1992 as the Church of the Immaculate Conception, and was named a minor basilica in 2013. It is located at 121 East Duval Street; its current pastor is Father Jan Ligeza.
Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and parish church in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. A Gothic Revival style building constructed between 1876 and 1888 by architect Joseph Connolly, it is considered Connolly's best work. The monumental church contains decorative carving and stained glass executed by skilled craftsmen. The church of Our Lady is one of the 122 parishes in the Diocese of Hamilton and currently has 2,600 families in the congregation.
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception is a cathedral of the Catholic Church located in Peoria, Illinois, United States. It is the seat of the Diocese of Peoria, where the Catholic televangelist and sainthood candidate Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was born and raised, and ordained a priest. Since 2019, the cathedral has been his place of burial. The cathedral is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing property in the North Side Historic District.
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is a Catholic church near the Mansion District in Albany, New York, United States. Built in the period of the 1848-1852, it is the mother church of the Diocese of Albany. In 1976 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, commonly and popularly known as the Manila Cathedral, is a Catholic minor basilica and the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila. It is located in Intramuros, the historic walled city in Manila, Philippines, and is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the principal patroness of the country.
The Basilica of St. Joseph is a Roman Catholic church located in Alameda, California. Its history dates back to early settlement of the City of Alameda, California. A former mission church of St. Anthony's in Oakland, the parish of St. Joseph's was established in 1885. It is part of the Diocese of Oakland. The Basilica was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 18, 1978.
St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception is a historic Roman Catholic church located at 600 E Sixth St. in Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware. St. Mary's is the only active church in Delaware founded by John Neumann, Bishop of Philadelphia 1852–1860, who consecrated it on October 31, 1858. The church and adjacent St. Mary's school were the principal institutions for worship and the education and integration of thousands of Irish immigrants in Wilmington, most of whom lived in the parish upon first arriving. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
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The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is a Catholic cathedral in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. Along with the Cathedral of St. Joseph it is the seat of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. It is a contributing property in the Quality Hill neighborhood, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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St Mary's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. It is situated on Regent Road in the centre of the town. It was originally built by the Society of Jesus in the late 1840s and it is now administered by the Diocese of East Anglia. The architect was Joseph John Scoles who also designed the Anglican St Mary's church in the Southtown area of Great Yarmouth and it is a Grade II* listed building.
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