Thursday, January 16, 2014

St. Peter's Church

Location:   Lower Manhattan
Year:   1785

St. Peter's Church, on the corner of Church Street and Barclay Street, is the oldest Roman Catholic Church in New York State. It was founded in 1785, right after the Revolutionary War. Prior to that date, Catholic worship had been forbidden by the British in New York, and earlier by the Dutch in New Amsterdam. 

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton converted from the Church of England to the Roman Apostolic Church here in 1805. 

Pierre Toussaint, a black parishoner of St. Peter's for 26 years, led Haiti's fight for independence from France. 

This was the first American posting of the French-born Father Edward Sorin who founded the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana in 1841.  

The roof of the church was slightly damaged in the September 11th attacks.


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