St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral

St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral grew out of a small Gothic Revival wood-frame mission church built around 1864–1871 on the corner of Elm Avenue and Main Street in Metuchen by an English convert to Catholicism. From its earliest days it was served by priests from New Brunswick, who traveled down to celebrate Mass for the local Catholic faithful. The mission church was dedicated to St. Joseph, and on January 26, 1878, St. Francis Parish was formally incorporated within that same modest wooden structure. By 1888 the parish was large enough to support a resident pastor, and the church continued to grow throughout the late nineteenth century. A disastrous fire on December 21 (or 22), 1903 — reportedly started when a lamp exploded in the choir loft while young women were rehearsing Christmas carols — totally destroyed the original church. The pastor at the time, the very ill Father John R. Graham, rushed into the burning building and rescued the Blessed Sacrament, chalices, and sacred vessels just before the flames reached the altar. He and the displaced parishioners were sheltered by Colonel Charles C. Weber. A second church, also of wood-frame construction, was begun on the same site in 1904 under the supervision of builder George B. Rule; its cornerstone was laid on June 12, 1904, by Rt. Rev. Monsignor O'Grady of St. Peter's Church, New Brunswick, and it was dedicated on December 18, 1904, by Bishop James A. McFaul of the Diocese of Trenton. Columbia Hall, a parish hall built in 1920, expanded the parish's facilities over the next several decades. The parish school grew to about 650 students by the early 1970s. By 1960 the parish had grown to more than 2,000 families. The pastor, the Reverend (later Monsignor) John J. Foley, drew up plans for a new church along with a parish hall and gymnasium to replace Columbia Hall, which had been destroyed by fire. A new rectory was completed in June 1961, groundbreaking for the new church took place on July 24, 1961, and the CYO Hall was completed in December 1961. While construction continued, Masses were held in various temporary locations. The current Gothic Revival–style church was dedicated on May 19, 1963, the same day Foley celebrated his golden jubilee of ordination. Built of reinforced concrete with a granite veneer and limestone trim, with a total area of about 26,260 square feet, it can seat around 1,000 (some sources say 1,100) worshippers and features aluminum-framed stained-glass windows, a large rose window on the west facade, Italian-marble altars, terrazzo floors, oak woodwork, air conditioning, and an electric organ and carillon. Foley was elevated to the rank of domestic prelate (Monsignor) in October 1963 and died on May 22, 1970. On November 19, 1981, Pope John Paul II erected the Diocese of Metuchen, dividing it from the Diocese of Trenton, and St. Francis Church was chosen as the cathedral (cathedral church) of the new diocese. The parish observed its centennial on November 10, 1974, when the Reverend Dominic A. Turtora was installed as pastor. The Diocese of Metuchen was consecrated to Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2019, and the 40th anniversary of the diocese was observed in fall 2022. The cathedral, built during the Second Vatican Council, deliberately retains a traditional Gothic Revival style — a notable fact given the liturgical reforms then underway. In 2025, the cathedral served as a pilgrimage site for the universal Jubilee Year of Hope.