University Parish of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village
Encyclopedia
- Not to be confused with St. Joseph of the Holy Family's Church (New York City)St. Joseph of the Holy Family's Church (New York City)Not to be confused with the Church of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village or San Giuseppe’s Church in Manhattan.The Church of St. Joseph of the Holy Family is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 125th St. at Morningside Avenue, Manhattan, New York...
or San Giuseppe’s Church (New York City)San Giuseppe’s Church (New York City)Not to be confused with St. Joseph's Church in Greenwich Village or St. Joseph of the Holy Family's Church in Manhattan.The Church of San Giuseppe/St. Joseph is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 5 Monroe Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan,...
in Manhattan
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
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
neighborhood of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Built in 1833-34, it is the oldest purpose-built Roman Catholic church building in New York City.
History
St. Joseph's Parish was founded by Bishop John DuboisJohn Dubois
Bishop John DuBois was the third bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of New York. He was the first presiding bishop to reside in the diocese....
in 1829. At the time St. Joseph's Parish began, the population of New York, numbering 203,000, was concentrated in the southern half of Manhattan. The parish boundaries stretched from Canal Street to 20th Street, and from Broadway to the Hudson River. Early church records indicate that St. Joseph's first congregants were predominantly Irish-Americans.
St. Joseph's was the sixth parish to be established in Manhattan, among those still in existence in the Archdiocese of New York. Parishes that preceded it were St. Peter's
St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, New York
St Peter's Church is the oldest Roman Catholic parish in New York City and part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. The church was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1965. The original church's cornerstone was laid in 1785 and the first...
on Barclay Street (1785), St. Patrick's Old Cathedral on Mulberry Street (1809), St. James on Oliver Street (1827) and Transfiguration on Mott Street (1827).
The cornerstone of the Church was laid on June 10, 1833. The church was designed by John Doran in the Greek Revival style
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
, 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
Arthur Crooks
Arthur Crooks was an English-American architect who practiced form offices located in from New York City. He was highly regarded for his design of ecclesiastical buildings in New York and Connecticut for Roman Catholic clients....
. 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 and 1992.
When then-pastor Aldo Tos retired in 2003, the Archdiocese of New York asked the Dominican Order
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
's Province of St Joseph, which was already staffing the nearby Catholic Center at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, to assume the responsibility of staffing priests for the parish. The result was a merger of the parish with NYU's Catholic Center in December 2003.
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 UniversityNew York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
(NYU) student clubs and for five groups of students and non-students. In addition to its campus ministry and other missions, the parish has been hosting a soup kitchen on Saturdays continuously since the 1980s.
Pastoral staff
- Pastor: Fr. John P. McGuire, O.P.
- Parochial Vicars: Fr. Gabriel Gillen, O.P., Fr. Augustine Judd, O.P., Fr. Vincent DeLucia, O.P.
- Pastor Emeritus: Rev. Aldo J. Tos