Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist | |
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32°46′35.4″N79°56′4.2″W / 32.776500°N 79.934500°W | |
Location | 120 Broad Street Charleston, South Carolina |
Country | United States |
Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
Website | charlestoncathedral |
History | |
Founded | 1800 |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | Patrick C. Keely Decimus C. Barbot Ruben Solar (belfry & spire) |
Style | Gothic Revival |
Groundbreaking | 1890 |
Completed | 1907 (Spire-2010) |
Specifications | |
Capacity | Upper church – 720 Lower church – 200 |
Length | 200 ft (61 m) |
Width | 80 ft (24 m) |
Number of spires | One |
Spire height | 167 ft (51 m) |
Materials | Connecticut tool-chiseled brownstone |
Bells | Three |
Administration | |
Diocese | Charleston |
Clergy | |
Bishop(s) | Most Rev. Jacques E. Fabre |
Rector | Very Rev. Gregory B. Wilson, VG |
The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, located in Charleston, South Carolina. Designed by Brooklyn architect Patrick Keely, the construction of the cathedral started in 1890 to replace a cathedral that burned down in 1861. St. John the Baptist was dedicated in 1907.
The cathedral has four chapels, one of which contains a crypt. The chapels, the doors and the upper church contain numerous stained glass windows that were created in France. The pipe organ was manufactured in the United States and the steeple bells were cast in France. The upper church of the cathedral has a seating capacity of 720 worshippers.
Bishop Jacques E. Fabre, the fourteenth bishop of Charleston, was consecrated and installed at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in 2022. As of 2025, the rector of the cathedral is Monsignor Gregory Wilson.
The Vatican erected the Diocese of Charleston in 1820. [1] However, its first cathedral, the Cathedral of Saint John and Saint Finbar, was not completed in 1854. It only last seven years before being destroyed in a fire that swept through Charleston in 1861. St. Andrews Hall, an 1815 structure next to the cathedral, was also destroyed. Due to the American Civil Wa r and the resulting impoverishment of the diocese, the cathedral was not replaced for several decades. [2]
In 1890, after years of fundraising, Cardinal James Gibbons laid the cornerstone for the new Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, designed by architect Patrick Keely, the new cathedral was built on the location of the old one. This site also cover the location of St. Andrews Hall, which was built in 1815. [3] Due to funding constraints, the archdiocese was unable to build a planned steeple and spire. [4] St. John the Baptist was dedicated in 1907. [5]
The cathedral underwent extensive repairs in 1966 and 1967, then was renovated in 1982. The archdiocese in 1991 added a new altar and cathedra and replastered the interior walls. The cathedral was repainted in 1995. [6]
In 2007, Bishop Robert J. Baker and Rector Monsignor Joseph Roth announced plans to renovate and complete the cathedral. The stained-glass windows were refurbished that same year. In 2010, the archdiocese finally added a steeple, spire and three bells. [7]
The architect P.C. Keely, the designer of many cathedrals in the United States and Canada, designed St. John the Baptist Cathedral in the Gothic Revival style. The original plans for new cathedral were closed to the architecture of Saint John and Saint Finbar, but were later altered.
The spire is covered in copper lattice and is topped with a 16x9 foot gilded copper Celtic cross. It was designed by Glenn Keyes Architects of Charlestown, using a sketch of the steeple from the Cathedral of Saint John and Saint Finbar. The spire has open grill work that reduces the wind load on the steeple by allowing the air to flow through. [4] [10]
The arches below the spire were fabricated from a special fiberglass used in ship building, clad in copper. The arches are decorated by brown cast stone pinnacles on each corner.
The belfry is constructed of brown cast stone. It has copper louvers.
This chapel is situated left of the cathedra in the upper church. It originally served as the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament,
Prior to 1968, the bishop sat in front of the altar. The Blessed Sacrament was removed to this altar so that the bishop would not have his back to the reserved sacrament. In 2008, the chapel briefly became the Chapel of Saint Paul for the Year of Saint Paul. Then in 2009, it became the Sacred Heart Chapel, housing an early 1900s statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with hands extended in blessing.
This chapel is sometimes referred to as Our Lady of the South Chapel. It was purchased during the American Civil War by Bishop Patrick Lynch, who had served as secret emissary to the Vatican for the Confederate States of America. [11]
The altar in this chapel is adorned with an Italian marble statue of the Madonna and the baby Jesus, sculpted by the German artist Ferdinand Pettrich. The statue depicts Mary without a head covering, holding the child Jesus as a toddler, which distinguishes from similar sculptures.
This chapel is the main lower church, primarily used for overflow crowds at mass and as a gathering space after the service. It was formerly used for daily mass. This chapel has a seating capacity of 200 worshippers.
This chapel is resting place of the first five bishops of Charleston, along with the remains of Joanna Monica England, sister of Bishop John England. The bishops vest in this chapel for mass.
The chapel contains one altar with a custom, hand-painted altarpiece depicting John the Baptist over the South Carolina landscape. He is holding a lamb and is flanked by two angels, one holding a crosier and the other the diocesan coat of arms. The chapel contains a niche with a statue of St. Joseph and the child Jesus.
The cathedral is noted for its stained-glass windows that were designed by the Franz Mayer & Co. of Munich, Germany.
The three sets of cathedral doors are surmounted by rose stained-glass windows with coat of arms in their centers;
Bishop Jacques Fabre-Jeune, CS
Monsignor Gregory Wilson, V.G. (2023 – present ) [12]
This is a list of the clerical staff of the cathedral as of 2025:
The three bronze bells in the bell tower were cast by the Fonderie Paccard in Annecy. France; they were blessed by Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone in 2009. The bells form an E major chord.
The pipe organ is located in the rear gallery of the upper church. It is a Bedient pipe organ from Lincoln, Nebraska. It is a model Opus 22, mechanical action instrument with two manuals, 26 stops and 32 ranks. It was originally installed in Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral in Louisville, Kentucky in 1986.
After the archdiocese bought the organ, its builder, Gene Bedient, reinstalled in St. John the Baptist Cathedral in 1995. [13] The Bedient pipe organ replaced an Opus 139 pipe organ from the Ernest M. Skinner Co., that was installed in the cathedral in 1903. [5]
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