Peek Inside America’s First Cathedral-The Baltimore Basilica | Catholic Destinations

Anti-Catholic sentiment was widespread in the U.S. when efforts to build the first Roman Catholic cathedral began. Nevertheless, the Baltimore Basilica (formally called The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) was completed in 1821 and quickly became the seat of Catholicism in the U.S. Step inside and find out how this historic basilica came to be and why it continues to thrive today!
Quick facts:
-In the Archdiocese of Baltimore, home of the Basilica, Mother Mary Lange founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence-the first order of African-American Religious.
-Father Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, was ordained at the Basilica in 1877.
-The Basilica hosted the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1884, which was the largest meeting of Catholic bishops held outside of Rome since the Council of Trent. From this council came the well-known Baltimore Catechism.
Behind-the-scenes fun:
The CatholicTV crew filmed another episode of Catholic Destinations at the Baltimore Basilica in 2004, before its full restoration was complete. That was the summer that the 17-year cicadas known as Brood X infested large swaths of the country. Host and producer Kevin Nelson was pleased to report that the crew encountered no cicadas in Baltimore when they came back in 2018 to film this episode.
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[@1000HolyPlaces]

I visited this beautiful church a few years back. It is just stunning!

[@pmp212]

The more we know about the beginning of our faith in America, the stronger our faith will be 🙏

[@YouSingHymns]

This is an amazing cathedral with such an interesting history.

[@IreneuszCzech]

Great cathedral! 👍

[@nedskiechannel3892]

That’s so beautiful 😍

[@jen8063]

Catholic Mass was also prohibited in South Africa until 1804. I didn't realize that the pioneers from that period of those two countries shared this as well. The Catholic settlers were not given land like their Anglican counterparts. Some were a bit sneaky and inserted an a into Mc😉

[@irmarosacorrea6630]

La 1ra catedral de USA!!

[@tf51d]

Beautiful Cathedral, and while it is the oldest standing Catholic Cathedral in the US, I have to disagree that it was the FIRST Catholic Cathedral in the US! The Old St. Patrick's Cathedral built in 1815 on Mulberry St, in Lower Manhattan NY, came before that and stood until a 5 alarm fire in 1866, when after they moved the Cathedral to it's current location on 5th Avenue, which opened in 1879.

[@johnigoe1705]

When the cornerstone for the Baltimore Basilica was laid in 1806, there was no other diocese in the USA. The whole USA was part of the Diocese of Baltimore. By definition, this makes the Baltimore Basilica "America's FIrst Cathedral." As other dioceses were established, each new diocese designated a building to be its cathedral, and some of these buildings are older; but the cathedral of the first and only diocese in the USA is "America's FIrst Cathedral."

[@tf51d]

@@johnigoe1705 Ok I see where you are going, Construction in Baltimore started in 1806, and St Patrick's began in 1809, so from that stand point Baltimore was first. however, St Patrick's was completed in 1815 while Baltimore's wasn't completed until 1821. So it was not the first operating Cathedral, St Patrick's was being completed 6 years prior.

[@johnigoe1705]

@@tf51d We're agreed. As you know, the idea of Catholics building a catherdral (anywhere!) in the USA was really radical. Anti-Catholicism was rampant, and here come those uppidty Catholics putting a huge building on the highest hill, proclaiming in-your-face "religious freedom."