St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
St. John the Evangelist Church, a little more than a block from Philadelphia City Hall, just south of Market on 13th Street, is one of the more active parishes in Philadelphia. At one time, in an effort to serve a special population, it even had a Mass at 2:45 a.m. on Sundays for workers leaving their businesses at that time, called the "Printers' Mass," because of the many newspaper printing plants nearby. It is also one of the few local parishes to offer confession on multiple days during the week, usually from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and on the vigil days for weekday holydays. This extensive sacramental schedule is offered even though the current number of homes registered in the parish is only 821.
Current status of parish
It is staffed by the Franciscan Capuchin order of priests, but for most of its history was served by secular priests from the Philadelphia diocese and archdiocese. The pastor is Father John Daya. In addition to the daily Masses listed above, the Sunday schedule is 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.. Unlike the daily Masses, which are in the lower church, all the Sunday Masses are in the upper church. The weekly church bulletin is online.
Early history
The charter for the parish was granted on December 27, 1830, the feast of St. John the Evangelist, by the Bishop, Francis P. Kenrick, to the Rev. John Hughes, although the location for the church was not chosen until the following year. The church finally was consecrated on Passion Sunday in 1832. The interior of the church, at the time, included a fresco painted by Nicholas Monachesi, who became renowned as a local portrait painter and, in 1834, the United States premiere of Mozart's Requiem Mass was held at the church. It was later that year, on August 1, that the first fire on the block occurred.
Early 19th Century: designation as Cathedral and Nativist Riots
In 1838, the church was designated as Philadelphia's Proto-Cathedral and the bishop took up residence in the rectory. In 1844 the Nativist Riots, in which several dozen people were killed, broke out. After two Catholic churches were destroyed, General George Cadwalader placed cannon near the cathedral to protect it and the disturbances did not damage the church.
Later 19th Century: connection with future saints
In the 1850s, two future saints were connected with the parish; Katherine Drexel received first communion and was confirmed at the parish while John Neumann, Bishop Kenrick's replacement when he was named Archbishop of Baltimore, arrived to become bishop on March 30, 1852; as bishop he lived in the parish rectory. At this time, the Jesuit order took over administration of the parish when the pastor entered the Jesuit order. In 1864, the current cathedral, the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on Logan Circle, was named the diocesan cathedral and St. John's again became an ordinary parish. During St. John's time as cathedral, Philadelphia had 170,000 Catholics.
Fire of 1899
In February, 1899, the church was which destroyed much of the block where it was located, and there was also damage to the rectory. Three firemen died when the building collapsed atop them and a fourth died later of pneumonia, contracted while battling the blaze in the February weather. A Mass to pray for them was held later that month in the Academy of Music, since the upper church was unusable. In recent years, an annual Mass for this purpose is held each year. Later in 1899, the parish school was moved out of the basement area of the church which was converted to a lower church for the celebration of the Sacraments while the main was repaired.
Ties with Mexico
The original pastor, Fr. Hughes, became close friends with a parishioner who had lived in Mexico for several years and, through him, ties with that country and people from it endured for many years. Not only was there financial support from Mexican merchants living in Philadelphia, but, when Mexican Emperor Augustin de Iturbide, was executed by Santa Ana in 1824, his family moved to Philadelphia and his widow, Ana Maria Huarte de Iturbide, is buried in St. John's Churchyard Cemetery, along with some other members of her family. During the anti-religious persecution in the 1920s, the Sisters of the Visitation were expelled from Mexico and lived on the church property at St. John's for several years, before moving to their current monastery site.
Other missions
In 1939, Bishop Yu Pin urged the Chinese community to connect with the parish; ultimately hundreds did and a chapel was opened about six blocks away from the main church in the heart of Chinatown, where it still operates.
