After being erected in by the Vatican in 1808, the Diocese of Philadelphia used two different churches as cathedrals before building Saints Peter and Paul.
Saint Mary' Church was designated as the new diocese's first cathedral in 1810.
The need for a larger cathedral prompted the diocese to designate Saint John the Evangelist Church as its cathedral in 1838. However, it soon became inadequate due to the burgeoning Catholic population in the city.[5]
In June 1846, Bishop Francis Kenrick announced plans to construct a larger, new cathedral in Philadelphia. it was to be dedicated to Peter the Apostle and Paul the Apostle. A year earlier, the diocese had purchased a building at 18th and Race Streets for $37,200. The diocese tore down the old building and started construction on the cathedral that same year. The cornerstone of the cathedral was laid in December 1846[6]
Kenrick wanted to avoid raising the debt of the diocese while building Saints Peter and Paul. He sold burial lots at Cathedral Cemetery and New Cathedral Cemetery, both in Philadelphia, to help fund it.[5]He also planned for an extended project time so as to spread out the cathedral cost over time.[6]In 1859, workment completed the cathedral walls and raised the cross to the top of the dome. The cathedral was dedicated in 1864 by Bishop James F. Wood. It was consecrated in 1890.[6]
Archbishop Edmond F. Prendergast, of what was now the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, renovated the cathedral in 1915. He repainted the interior walls, replaced the confessionals, and put a copper lining on the tin roof.[6]Four bronze statues of Mary, mother of Jesus, Jesus, Peter the Apostle, and Paul the Apostle were installed in niches on the building's main facade.[7]
The archdiocese added the Chapel of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament to the cathedral in 1955. The cathedral underwent another renovation in 1956, with the construction of a new apse.
Saints Peter and Paul was designated a minor basilica in 1976 by Pope Paul VI. In 1979, Pope John Paul II celebrated a papal mass at the basilica. The tabernacle was moved to the main altar in 2007 Pope Francis celebrated a mass there in 2015.[6]In 2017, the archdiocese relocated the shrine of Saint Katharine Drexel to the basilica after St. Elizabeth's Convent in Cornwell Heights, Pennsylvania, closed [8]
Building
Cathedral chancel prior to the addition of the apse (1903)Basilica interior (2011)Basilica dome (2011)
With its grand façade, vaulted dome, ornate main altar, eight side chapels and main sanctuary that comfortably holds 2,000 worshippers, the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul is the largest brownstone structure and one of the most architecturally notable structures in the city of Philadelphia.
The basilica interior features an oversized apse of stained glass and red antique marble in proportions reminiscent of Roman churches. A baldachin made of Italian marble covers the main altar. The three altars on each side aisle are designed in Italian Renaissance style. The Crypt of the Bishops is located in the basement of the basilica
Architects and designers
To begin the cathedral project, Kenrick in 1846 tasked Reverend Mariano Muller and the Reverend John B. Tornatore with drawing the initial plans for the structure. Kenrick hired the Philadelphia architect Napoleon LeBrun to run the project. LeBrun had previously built the Philadelphia Academy of Music. LeBrun used the Basilica of Sant' Ambrogio et Carlo al Corso, a Neo Classical style Italian Renaissance church in Rome, as his inspiration. [6]
LeBrun's original plans for the cathedral called for clerestory windows at a low level. However, Kenrick wanted them much higher. This was because mobs had caused massive destruction of church property in 1844 during anti-Catholic riots. According to local legend, one day Kenrick asked the strongest workman on the cathedral worksite to throw a stone in the air. He then directed the architects to place the windows about the high point of that throw.[6]
In 1851, LeBrun left the project due to a dispute.[6]To replace LeBrun, the diocese hired John Notman who added the dome and facade to the building. In 1857, Coadjutor Bishop Wood assumed supervision of the project. That same year, Notman quit after a dispute about money. Woods then hired John Mahoney to replace Notman and three years later persuaded LeBrun to finish the cathedral in 1864.[10][6]
Constantino Brumidi painted the ceiling mural in the dome, The Assumption of the Virgin into Heaven in 1868, and the round portraits of St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John on its pendentives. Architect Henry D. Dagit renovated the cathedral interior in 1914, adding the apse behind the high altar. D'Ascenzo Studios executed the apse's stained glass windows and mosaic murals.
Crypt of the bishops
Opened in 1869, the crypt is located under the main altar of the basilica.[6]
The crypt also contains the remains of several cardinals, auxiliary bishops and priests with ties to the archdiocese. It is also the repository of Mother Katharine Drexel, a saint.
Francis Patrick O'Neill, priest and pastor of St. James Parish in Philadelphia, died in 1882
Maurice Walsh, priest and apostolic administrator in Philadelphia, died in 1888
James Corcoran, monsignor and professor at Saint Charles Seminary, died in 1889
Francis J. Clark, priest and rector of the basilica, died in 1918
Katharine Drexel, saint and founder of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament Founder. Died in 1955. Her remains were transferred to the basilica from St. Elizabeth's Convent in 2017.
↑ Gallery, John Andrew, ed. (2004), Philadelphia Architecture: A Guide to the City (2nded.), Philadelphia: Foundation for Architecture, ISBN0962290815 , p.52
↑ Marchesano, Paul R (Summer 2007). "Brief History of the Organs of the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul". The Tracker. 51 (3): 20–30. ProQuest198903747.
↑ Teitelman, Edward & Longstreth, Richard W. (1981), Architecture in Philadelphia: A Guide, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, ISBN0262700212 , p.111
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