Church of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village explained

Denomination:Catholic Church
Church of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village
Pushpin Map:Lower Manhattan#New York City
Coordinates:40.7326°N -74.0005°W
Location:365 Sixth Avenue,
Greenwich Village, New York City
Religious Institute:Order of Preachers
Founded Date:1829
Status:Parish church
Style:Greek Revival
Groundbreaking:June 10, 1833
Deanery:South Manhattan
Archdiocese:Archdiocese of New York

The Church of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village is a Roman Catholic parish church located at 365 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) at the corner of Washington Place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Constructed in 1833–1834, it is the oldest church in New York City specifically built to be a Roman Catholic sanctuary.[1] [2]

History

St. Joseph's Parish was founded by Bishop John Dubois in 1829.[3] At the time St. Joseph's Parish began, the population of New York, numbering 203,000, was concentrated in the southern half of Manhattan. Early church records indicate that St. Joseph's first congregants were predominantly Irish-Americans. The parish boundaries stretched from Canal Street to 20th Street, and from Broadway to the Hudson River. As additional parishes were created, St. Joseph's boundaries were trimmed, spanning from Houston Street to 14th Street, and from University Place to Hudson Street.[4]

St. Joseph's was the sixth parish to be established in Manhattan, among those still in existence in the Archdiocese of New York. The five parishes that preceded it were St. Peter's on Barclay Street (1785), St. Patrick's Old Cathedral on Mulberry Street (1809), St. Mary's on Grand Street (1826), St. James on Oliver Street (1827) and Transfiguration on Mott Street (1827).[4]

After several years in a rented hall at Grove and Christopher Streets,[4] the cornerstone of the present church was laid on June 10, 1833. The church was designed by John Doran in the Greek Revival style,[5] [6] but it has been extensively renovated over the years. Two fires, one in 1855 and the other in 1885, caused extensive damage to the interior. Renovations after the second fire were supervised by Arthur Crooks.[7] The interior of the church was restored in 1972. At the time, a fresco of the Transfiguration, after Raphael's original in the Vatican, was discovered under layers of paint and restored. Structural restoration work was performed in 1991–1992.

St. Joseph's School was established in 1855, with Sisters of Charity teaching the neighborhood girls and Christian Brothers teaching the boys. The first building was along Leroy Street, replaced in 1897 by a new building adjacent to the church.[8]

The first public education program on AIDS ever held in Greenwich Village was held at St. Joseph's. The first meeting of Gay Men's Health Crisis also took place there. The event organized by parishioner David Pais was originally planned to be held in the school, but so many people attended that it had to be moved to the church.[9]

When then-pastor Aldo Tos retired in 2003, the Archdiocese of New York asked the Dominican Order's Province of Saint Joseph, which was already staffing the nearby Catholic Center at New York University, to assume the responsibility of staffing priests for the parish.[10] The result was a merger of the parish with NYU's Catholic Center in December 2003.[11]

Tos was removed from ministry following accusations of sexual abuse of a minor, which were determined to be credible by the Archdiocese of New York. His laicization process was pending at his death in 2014.[12]

On July 30, 2023, the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, dedicated St. Joseph's new Divine Mercy Chapel, the first chapel for perpetual adoration in New York City.[13] [14]

The church today

The Catholic Center provides a wide spectrum of activities, programs, lectures and outreach programs. It is the center of five New York University (NYU) student clubs and for five groups of students and non-students. In addition to its campus ministry and other missions, the parish organized a weekly soup kitchen in 1982 (starting less formally in 1976) that operated for more than 30 years[15] and has continued as an independent charity since 2015.[16]

The parish and Catholic Center host chapters of the Thomistic Institute, an academic institute of the Dominican House of Studies which administers a network of campus chapters across the United States, for New York City and NYU respectively.[17] [18]

Pastoral staff

References

Explanatory notes

Citations

External links

Notes and References

  1. p. 219.
  2. Although the Church of the Transfiguration on Mott Street was built in 1815, it did not become a Catholic Church until 1853. See Church of the Transfiguration Parish history
  3. Remigius Lafort, S.T.D., Censor, The Catholic Church in the United States of America, Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York. (New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p. 340.
  4. Web site: Parish History . St. Joseph's Church in Greenwich Village . January 26, 2020.
  5. Bahamón, Alejandro and Losantos, Àgata. New York: A Historical Atlas of Architecture. (New York: Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, 2007), p. 99.
  6. p. 54.
  7. p. 138.
  8. Book: Shelley. Thomas J.. Greenwich Village Catholics. 2003. The Catholic University of America Press. Washington, D.C.. 0-8132-1349-5. 57, 116.
  9. Surviving the AIDS crisis as a gay Catholic . Plague: Untold Stories of AIDS & the Catholic Church . . Michael O'Loughlin . December 1, 2019. January 10, 2020.
  10. Wakin, Daniel J. "Catholic Center of N.Y.U. May Move to Nearby Parish". The New York Times (November 18, 2003). Retrieved February 12, 2008.
  11. http://media.www.nyunews.com/media/storage/paper869/news/2003/11/20/UndefinedSection/Catholic.Center.Will.Stay.Put-2390841.shtml "Catholic Center Will Stay Put"
  12. https://archny.org/news-events/response-to-abuse/list/ "Update on the Sexual Abuse Crisis"
  13. News: McKeown . Jonah . June 5, 2021 . Perpetual adoration chapel will be a 'spiritual gamechanger' for New York City, priest says . . live . July 31, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230531042932/https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/247909/perpetual-adoration-chapel-will-be-a-spiritual-gamechanger-for-new-york-city-priest-says . May 31, 2023.
  14. News: July 25, 2023 . St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village Opening Only Perpetual Adoration Chapel in Manhattan . The Good Newsroom . Archdiocese of New York . live . July 31, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230731143643/https://thegoodnewsroom.org/st-josephs-church-in-greenwich-village-opening-only-perpetual-adoration-chapel-in-manhattan/ . July 31, 2023.
  15. https://web.archive.org/web/20120401160337/http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1k9xd53uv1qflw0ao1_500.png "30th Anniversary Dinner"
  16. http://sjsk.nyc/about/ "About"
  17. https://thomisticinstitute.org/campus-chapters/nyc "Thomistic Institute in New York City"
  18. https://thomisticinstitute.org/campus-chapters/nyu "New York University"
  19. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?pid=183263648 "John McGuire"
  20. http://cny.org/stories/Father-Aldo-J-Tos,11611 "Father Aldo J. Tos"
  21. https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9C00E2DC153AF934A2575BC0A96E9C8B63.html "O'Leary, John D."
  22. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/lohud/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=149354975 "Robert Wilde"
  23. Book: Shelley. Thomas J.. Greenwich Village Catholics. 2003. The Catholic University of America Press. Washington, D.C.. 0-8132-1349-5. 14, 30–31, 43, 52–55, 73, 100–101, 159, 182–187, 269.