St. John`s Catholic Church - Worcester MA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

St. John's is called the mother church of two dioceses, Springfield and Worcester. Indeed it is! It was established, however, when the Diocese of Boston was the sole diocese for all New England. A native Bostonian, Father James Fitton, often named the Apostle of New England, was our founder.

Father Fitton, born exactly 200 years ago in 1805 (when there were only two priests in all New England!) offered "first Masses" in scores of location throughout New England. Ordained in 1827, he served Passamaquoddy tribal members in Maine (who in later years often visited him at St John's), and he was the first Catholic to preach the Gospel in most locations in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. In 1830, he was assigned to pastor those few Catholics in Hartford, and it was from there that he launched his missionary expeditions to Central Massachusetts.

On July 7, 1834 Father Fitton laid the foundation for our first church building, Christ Church. The same year he founded the Seminary of Mount St James on Pakachoag Hill, named for his patron saint. From there, the seminary boys would walk to Christ Church for Mass and the sacraments. In 1842, Father Fitton deeded that parcel over to Bishop Benedict Fenwick, who then gave it to the Society of Jesus for the establishment of the College of the Holy Cross, established in 1843.

Our current church was built in 1846 and was renamed St. John's. father Fitton was reassigned to Providence and then to Boston where he established more parishes. He returned to Worcester often and gave the first sermon at what is now St. Paul's Cathedral in 1869. He was the first priest in New England to celebrate a Fiftieth anniversary, and did so in 1877.

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Street address: 40 Temple St. Worcester , MA County / Borough / Parish: Worcester Year listed: 1980 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1875-1899, 1825-1849 Historic function: Religion Current function: Religion Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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