Title
Recognizing the 250th Anniversary of Old St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church Philadelphia's oldest Catholic Church in continuous service.
Body
WHEREAS, Old St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church was founded on South Fourth Street in 1763 by Father Robert Harding, a Jesuit, as an off-shoot of St. Joseph's in Willings Alley, the earliest Catholic chapel in Philadelphia. St. Mary's became the first Catholic Parish Church in the City, eighty years before Philadelphia was founded and thirteen years before the Declaration of Independence was signed. An elementary school was established for the parish in 1782 to educate the children in the area; and
WHEREAS, Old St. Mary's Church welcomed many important historical figures. Early pew holders included Commodore John Barry, Father of the American Navy; Thomas Fitz-Simons, a signer of the Constitution; George Meade, grandfather of General George Gordon Meade; General Stephan Moylan, aide-de-camp to George Washington; and Matthew Carey, leading publisher of the early days of the Republics; and
WHEREAS, On the fourth of July, 1779, the first public religious commemoration of the Declaration of Independence was held in St. Mary's Church. At the close of the Revolutionary War, the armies of the Republic and France joined in a Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving and adorned the chancel of St. Mary's with the captured British flags; and
WHEREAS, In 1808, Old St. Mary's Church was designated the first Cathedral in Pennsylvania when Pope Pius VII created the Diocese of Philadelphia, which included all of Pennsylvania, Delaware and the western half of New Jersey. The first three Bishops to serve the Diocese of Philadelphia from the Cathedral Church of St. Mary's were: Right Reverend Michael Egan, O.S.F.; Right Reverend Henry Conwell; and Right Reverend Francis P. Kenrick. The Most Reverend Martin N. Lohmuller served as Pastor of Old St. Mary's Church during the Bicentennial of these United States; and
WHEREAS, Old St. ...
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