The first step toward the building of a Catholic church in Providence was taken in 1832, when Francis Hye, a Providence “trader” and one of only two naturalized Irishmen in the city, bought the land on which SS. Peter and Paul was to be built. The site Hye purchased was on what was then called Christian Hill. Its previous owner, Isaac Matthewson, had sworn “that none of his land should ever be bought by Catholics.” Unfortunately for him, he did not know of Hye’s religious background and the intent for which Hye wished to purchase the land. When Hye told him after the purchase was finalized what the land was for, Matthewson tried to buy the land back, but Hye, on the advice of Father John Corry, refused the offer. The raising of their new church was to be both a witness to the faith of the early Irish residents of the state and of their willingness to sacrifice for it.
The first SS. Peter and Paul originally measured 75 feet by 45 feet and occupied most of the land which Hye had bought. It was built of blue-green slate, which was covered with cement. The total cost of the building was approximately $12,000, a sum that did not include the cost of the land. Bishop Benedict Fenwick, the Bishop of Boston, whose diocese encompassed all of the New England states, blessed the new building on November 4, 1838. By the 1860s, it was obvious that the church needed to be replaced. The fabric of the church had seriously deteriorated and it was then far too small to adequately serve the needs of the people. On Sunday, December 20,1863, Bishop Francis P. McFarland, the third Bishop of Hartford to live in Providence and use SS. Peter and Paul’s as his cathedral, announced that he had authorized a collection to be taken up for the purchase of additional land in order to build a larger church. In spite of the bishop’s best intentions, he was not able to completely fulfill his hopes. When in 1872 the Diocese of Providence was created and Bishop McFarland moved to Hartford, there was still one parcel needed flesh out the site. In addition, there was a $16,000 debt on the church that had to be paid off before any work could be done.
Within the first three weeks of his being installed in the cathedral church on April 28, 1872, the first Bishop of Providence, Thomas F. Hendricken, announced his intention to see a new cathedral built and called on the people of the cathedral parish and of the whole diocese to help in the endeavor. As a first step towards funding the effort, the bishop encouraged the pastors of each parish in the diocese to hold a “fair” as a means of raising funds for the new cathedral. As an additional source of funds, the bishop initiated an annual collection in every parish of the diocese whose proceeds would go to the cathedral fund. Hendricken arranged that the collection would coincide with his visits to the individual parishes to confirm the children. He also encouraged his clergy to set an example of generosity. The bishop himself contributed $15,000 of his own monies. In retrospect, Bishop Hendricken could not have chosen a worse time to launch his effort to raise funds for the building of a cathedral church. Between the time the bishop announced his intention and the date of the cathedral’s consecration, the United States experienced two major economic downturns: the Panic of 1873 and the Long Depression that followed, and the Recession of 1882-1885.
Before construction of the new cathedral could begin, a temporary or pro-cathedral had to be built on the Sisters of Mercy property on the corner of Broad and Claverick streets. Also, a new home needed to be found for the cathedral clergy and the old Cathedral torn down. Mass was celebrated in the new wooden pro-cathedral for the first time on Sunday, December 6, 1876. The last Mass was celebrated in the original church of SS. Peter and Paul on May 5, 1878, and work on its demolition began the next week.
When the bishops of the Province of New England forwarded Thomas Hendricken’s name to Rome as their choice to be the first Bishop of Providence, they knew he suffered from asthma. The bishop’s asthmatic condition worsened under the strain of his episcopal duties and he was forced to take a long trip to Ireland in the summer and fall of 1878. While in Ireland, Richard Collis, Esq., a quarry owner, presented him with the gift of two blocks of black Kilkenny marble, one of which was to serve as the corner stone of the new cathedral that was blessed on November 28, 1878. The event was witnessed by an estimated 10,000 people.
Although the hold of the Long Depression eventually weakened, its effects lingered. In the 1870s, the names of only two Irish Catholics could be found among the largest taxpayers in Providence. One, Thomas Cosgrove, had served as grand marshal of the parade on the day of the laying of the cornerstone, and was particularly generous to his church. Although not wealthy, many of the Irish in the diocese had risen to middle and lower middle class status. There were a substantial number of five dollar contributions listed in the annual reports that Bishop Hendricken made to the cathedral parishioners. However, the majority of the contributions were of one or two dollars, a substantial sum for a working class family in a time of depression or recession.
Bishop Hendricken had hoped the see the new cathedral finished and dedicated on the feast of its patrons, SS. Peter and Paul, in 1886. But the physical exertion involved in his travels through the diocese, which then included what is today the Diocese of Fall River, took its toll on his already weakened body. Realizing his weakness, the bishop, at the beginning of June 1886, in a sermon at Holy Name Church, Providence, spoke of his probable death from the lung troubles from which he had long suffered. He asked that the Lord would spare him to see the cathedral consecrated. He died on June 11, 1886 at the age of 59. His funeral Mass was the first celebrated in the new church. It fell to his successor, Bishop Matthew Harkins, to see to the completion of the church and its consecration on June 30, 1889.
By the 1950s, the cathedral was showing its age. Bishop Russell J. McVinney first raised the question of repairing its stonework and renovating the interior of the cathedral at a meeting of the Diocesan Board of Consultors on December 14, 1954. By the time the bishop projected the diocese would be ready to undertake the renovations and repairs, other needs had surfaced. Unable to borrow the monies he believed he needed, the bishop agreed to the holding of a capital campaign in 1963, the Bishop’s Campaign, to raise a minimum of $9,000,000 to finance a new addition to St. Joseph’s Hospital on Broad Street, the renovation of the cathedral, and the building of new diocesan high schools. He sought to attract donors from the whole diocese. Because of the substantial rise in construction costs, most of the monies raised in the campaign went to pay for the new building at St. Joseph’s Hospital. The better part of what remained was used for the cathedral, while a million dollars was left for high schools.
Preparation work for the closing of the cathedral began in April 1968. During the course of the cathedral’s renovation, numerous delays forced the rector, Msgr. William J. Carey, to push back the reopening of the cathedral. When Bishop McVinney died on August 10, 1971, his funeral was held in the church of his youth, Blessed Sacrament in Providence, rather than in the Cathedral Church. Finally, on June 25, 1972, the cathedral doors were again opened to the public so that they might inspect the work of restoration and renovation. On June 29, 1972, the feast of the cathedral patron saints, Peter and Paul, Bishop Louis E. Gelineau celebrated a Mass marking the one hundreth anniversary of the diocese.
Since 1972, the diocese has made a conscious effort to make the cathedral available to all in the diocese. Since the 1950s, urban flight, the construction of Route 95, and urban renewal have substantially reduced the population of the cathedral parish. Now, many of those who attend Sunday and daily Masses are from outside the territory of the parish. Many of the funerals and weddings held in the cathedral are also celebrated for non-parishioners, since in reality all in the diocese have a claim on the cathedral as their church. Since its renovation, several of the Catholic high schools of the diocese continue to hold their graduation ceremonies in the cathedral. The cathedral has also served as the venue for concerts and other cultural events.
Age and continuing use continue to cause the fabric of the building to deteriorate. A canopy over the stairs leading to the main doors of the church has had to be put in place to protect church-goers from falling pieces of stone. The wooden window frames at the rear of the Cathedral have had to be repainted in the fall of 2012. The nave of the Cathedral was closed last summer so that the floor of the nave could be replaced. Every parish of the diocese has had to deal with the challenge of maintaining the fabric of its church. Without the help of the diocese as a whole, the cathedral church could not have been built in the first place. Today, the help of the whole diocese is needed to maintain the legacy of faith, loyalty and pride that the Cathedral Church of SS. Peter and Paul represents.
Father Hayman serves as archivist for the Diocese of Providence.
