Old St. Patrick's Cathedral

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Old St. Patricks Cathedral is the Oldest Catholic Cathedral in the city, consecrated in 1815. It currently serves English, Spanish and Chinese speaking worshipers but it was built by the Irish immigrants to New York City and in 1882 an Italian sub-congregation was formed that met and worshiped in the basement. Only children of the Italian worshipers who attended Sunday school mixed with the Irish congregation, but not because they were not allowed in to the main church but because they choose to be separate.
Religiously, too, there were conflicts. From the Italian point of view, an Irish-dominated Catholic Church placed more stress on obedience than on joy. From the Irish point of view, the Italians, who held boisterous outdoor celebrations in extravagant worship of their saints, were little more than pagan idolators. Eventually, the basement congregation disolved as it gave support to nativist resentments.

Italian Heritage-LES
updated 03/2012 by NYU Tourism Maps