| Church of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village | |
|---|---|
 St. Joseph's Church, Greenwich Village | |
  Church of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village  Church of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village | |
| 40°43′57.4″N74°0′1.8″W / 40.732611°N 74.000500°W /40.732611; -74.000500 | |
| Location | 365Sixth Avenue, Greenwich Village,New York City |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Religious institute | Order of Preachers |
| Website | stjosephgv |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Founded | 1829 |
| Architecture | |
| Style | Greek Revival |
| Groundbreaking | June 10, 1833 |
| Administration | |
| Archdiocese | Archdiocese of New York |
| Deanery | South Manhattan |
TheChurch of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village is aRoman Catholic parish church located at 365Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) at the corner of Washington Place in theGreenwich Village neighborhood ofManhattan,New York City. Constructed in 1833–1834, it is the oldest church in New York City specifically built to be aRoman Catholic sanctuary.[notes 1]
St. Joseph's Parish was founded by BishopJohn Dubois in 1829.[1] At the time St. Joseph's Parish began, the population of New York, numbering 203,000, was concentrated in the southern half of Manhattan. Early church records indicate that St. Joseph's first congregants were predominantly Irish-Americans. The parish boundaries stretched from Canal Street to 20th Street, and from Broadway to the Hudson River. As additional parishes were created, St. Joseph's boundaries were trimmed, spanning from Houston Street to 14th Street, and from University Place to Hudson Street.[2]
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St. Joseph's was the sixth parish to be established in Manhattan, among those still in existence in theArchdiocese of New York. The five parishes that preceded it wereSt. Peter's on Barclay Street (1785),St. Patrick's Old Cathedral on Mulberry Street (1809),St. Mary's on Grand Street (1826),St. James on Oliver Street (1827) andTransfiguration on Mott Street (1827).[2]
After several years in a rented hall at Grove and Christopher Streets,[2] the cornerstone of the present church was laid on June 10, 1833. The church was designed by John Doran in theGreek Revival style,[3][4][5][6] 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 byArthur Crooks.[3][4] The interior of the church was restored in 1972. At the time, a fresco of the Transfiguration, afterRaphael's original in the Vatican, was discovered under layers of paint and restored. Structural restoration work was performed in 1991–1992.
St. Joseph's School was established in 1855, withSisters of Charity teaching the neighborhood girls andChristian Brothers teaching the boys. The first building was along Leroy Street, replaced in 1897 by a new building adjacent to the church.[7]
The first public education program onAIDS ever held in Greenwich Village was held at St. Joseph's. The first meeting ofGay Men's Health Crisis also took place there. The event organized by parishioner David Pais was originally planned to be held in the school, but so many people attended that it had to be moved to the church.[8]
When then-pastor Aldo Tos retired in 2003,[9] theArchdiocese of New York asked theDominican Order's Province of Saint Joseph, which was already staffing the nearby Catholic Center atNew York University, to assume the responsibility of staffing priests for the parish.[10] The result was a merger of the parish with NYU's Catholic Center in December 2003.[11]
Tos was removed from ministry following accusations of sexual abuse of a minor, which were determined to be credible by the Archdiocese of New York. His laicization process was pending at his death in 2014.[12]
On July 30, 2023, theArchbishop of New York, CardinalTimothy Dolan, dedicated St. Joseph's new Divine Mercy Chapel, the firstchapel forperpetual adoration in New York City.[13][14]
The Catholic Center provides a wide spectrum of activities, programs, lectures and outreach programs. It is the center of fiveNew York University (NYU) student clubs and for five groups of students and non-students. In addition to its campus ministry and other missions, the parish organized a weekly soup kitchen in 1982 (starting less formally in 1976)[15] that operated for more than 30 years and has continued as an independent charity since 2015.[16]
The parish and Catholic Center host chapters of theThomistic Institute, an academic institute of the Dominican House of Studies which administers a network of campus chapters across the United States, for New York City and NYU respectively.[17][18]
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