Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

St. John's story began in 1820, when Father Richard Bulger — one of only eight priests serving the entire Diocese of New York (which at the time covered all of New York State and northern New Jersey) — was assigned to Paterson. He was the first Catholic priest to take up permanent residence in the state of New Jersey. In 1821 he built the first St. John's, a modest frame structure erected on property donated by the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.) at the corner of Market and Mill Streets. Fifteen years later, under Father Patrick Duffy, a second, stone church was built on a different site donated by Roswell Colt on Oliver Street. By the early 1860s the Catholic population of booming, industrial Paterson had outgrown even that structure, and the future of Catholic worship in the city was entrusted to the church's thirteenth pastor, Very Rev. William McNulty, who had come to Paterson from Madison in 1863. McNulty was also a man of vision: in addition to drawing plans for a vastly larger St. John's, he personally founded a series of new parishes across the surrounding region to keep pace with the city's growth. In 1865 Father McNulty negotiated the purchase of sixteen lots on the corner of Grand and Main Streets from the powerful S.U.M. corporation for $10,000; the entire purchase price was raised within two months. He retained the prominent New York architect Patrick C. Keely — designer of the Cathedrals of Boston and Chicago — to develop plans 'for an edifice … unequaled in New Jersey.' On September 10 (some sources say September 11), 1865, Bishop James R. Bayley of Newark laid the cornerstone before a crowd estimated at 10,000 people. The brownstone used for the new St. John's was quarried at Little Falls, brought to Paterson on the Morris Canal, and dressed on the construction site. In the manner of medieval cathedrals, St. John's was built largely by 'day's work' — the volunteer labor of members of the parish. By the summer of 1870 the church was sufficiently complete to be dedicated, on July 31 of that year; approximately $200,000 had been spent on construction to that point. Work continued for the next two decades. The rectory was built in 1872, and in 1878 the temporary altar was replaced by the present wooden altar and reredos, the gift of U.S. Senator John Hinchcliffe. In 1887 the church debt was paid off, and Dean McNulty added the Lady Chapel, the front minarets, the great tower spire, and a new organ. These were completed and paid for in just three years, and on June 29, 1890, Bishop Winand M. Wigger of Newark solemnly consecrated St. John's. The total cost of the completed church was approximately $232,000. The nineteenth-century structure measured 88 feet across and 180 feet deep. The front minarets rose to 120 feet and the great central tower to a striking 225 feet. Stone columns 60 feet tall carry the English slate roof. Various interior alterations followed over the years, the most significant being carried out in 1938 under Monsignor James T. Delehany to accommodate the church's new role as the cathedral of the diocese. On December 9, 1937, Pope Pius XI erected the Diocese of Paterson out of the Archdiocese of Newark and named St. John the Baptist as the cathedral, or 'seat,' of the new bishop. The Auxiliary Bishop of Newark, Thomas H. McLaughlin, was named first Bishop of Paterson and was installed in the cathedral on April 28, 1938. St. John's had thus realized the title that locals had long given it by virtue of its size and dignity — and as the cathedral it became the focal point for the vision and hopes of an entire diocese. The cathedral was placed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places on June 13, 1977, and on the National Register of Historic Places on December 16, 1977 (NRHP reference #77000903). Under its present rector, Monsignor Eugene R. 'Geno' Sylva — who was ordained August 28, 1993 by Bishop Frank J. Rodimer and was also named a Vatican appointee to the Dicastery for Evangelization under Pope Francis — the cathedral has been carefully renovated and remains an active parish as well as the ceremonial center of Catholic life in Passaic, Morris, and Sussex counties.