The Basilica of St. John the Evangelist

Saint John's Parish began in 1847 and was formally established as an independent Catholic parish in 1854 as the Mother Church for the growing Catholic community of Stamford, Darien, Greenwich, and surrounding areas; every Catholic parish and institution in this region has its roots in Saint John's. Catholic life in colonial Connecticut was suppressed for centuries: to own property or vote in the Colony one had to swear a public oath denouncing the Catholic Church, the celebration of Mass was prohibited, and priests were banned. Catholics only began to settle in Connecticut after the American Revolution, with indentured Irish servants arriving on contracts. Stamford's first Mass was celebrated in 1842 in the house of Patrick H. Drew by Father James Smyth of Bridgeport, who came to serve the three resident Catholic families. By the 1830s the Catholic population in Fairfield County was rising, concentrated among Irish immigrants in Bridgeport, Norwalk, and Stamford. The Irish population in Connecticut swelled in the 1840s and 1850s largely because of the Irish Potato Famine and the demand for labor on canals and railroads. In 1849 Stamford's small Catholic community purchased land and on July 4 broke ground for the original church of Saint John the Evangelist on Meadow Street. The small one-story wood-framed church measured 60 by 40 feet, with rudimentary Gothic decorations, a small steeple, and a bell, and was dedicated in 1851 by Bishop William O'Reilly of Hartford. By 1854 Saint John's had become an independent mission under its first pastor, Father Edward J. Cooney, during the pontificate of Blessed Pius IX. In 1860 Saint John's opened the first parish school in Fairfield County, educating Catholics and non-Catholics alike until 1972. To meet the growing Catholic population a larger church was built in 1868, after which the adjacent property and a private home were purchased to serve as the rectory. James Murphy of Providence, Rhode Island, who designed and constructed fifty-six Catholic churches throughout New England, was the architect of the present stone church; the interior was designed by John Ennis, a Dublin theater designer. The foundation was dug and the stone dragged from a local quarry by Irish Catholic parishioners themselves. The present Saint John the Evangelist church was completed and consecrated on May 30, 1886, by Bishop Lawrence Stephen McMahon — at the time the largest church in the state and still the largest stone church in southern Connecticut. The gothic High Altar of white Carrara marble and golden Mexican onyx dates to the church's opening, while the altar crucifix above the tabernacle is from the original 1851 church. The three Dutch stained-glass windows above the sanctuary — depicting the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection — are the oldest in the church, dating to 1886. Two convents were constructed at the Atlantic Street site, and the Saint John's School, completed in 1906 directly behind the new church, was staffed by the Sisters of Mercy and operated until its closure in 1973. Saint John's Parish donated most of the funding for the construction and outfitting of Saint Joseph's Hospital, which opened in Stamford in 1942 and served the community until 1999. Apostolates were begun over time for Italian immigrants (1890), Polish and Slovak immigrants (1900), the Hispanic community, and Haitian Catholics (1972), giving the parish its long-standing multi-lingual character. The Greek Revival rectory, built in 1850 as a private home and purchased by the parish in 1868, is believed to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad operated by local greengrocer James Daskam. The parish's support of the city's urban development program led the city to name its three Saint John's Towers affordable housing apartments after the parish, with the Bishop of Bridgeport and the Pastor of Saint John's serving ex officio on the Saint John's Urban Development Corporation board. On July 16, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI raised Saint John's Parish to the dignity and title of Minor Basilica based upon its sanctuary size, historical importance, art, and recognition within the Diocese — at the time one of only 65 Minor Basilicas in the United States and 1,561 in the world. Today the Basilica of Saint John the Evangelist is described as 'the Pope's church in the heart of the city,' the parish for downtown Stamford, and home to the largest Catholic community in the city.