The largest city of Massachusetts Boston is the unofficial capital of the region called New England. It was founded in 1630 by Puritan colonists. The Irish, Italians, and Spaniards, who later arrived in America, brought the Catholic faith with them. In 1875, the largest Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Cross appeared in Boston.
The Catholic community has become one of the largest in Boston. The desire to build a gigantic Catholic church that could accommodate thousands of believers was expressed as far back as 1860 by John Fitzpatrick, Bishop of Boston, a native of Ireland. He understood that new believers could be introduced to Catholicism by creating a trustworthy prayer house where you can revive Catholic rituals in all its glory, conduct solemn services with singing and playing the organ.
They began to raise funds, prepare a project, and look for a place. But the Civil War in the USA between the North and the South for the abolition of slavery, which lasted from 1861 to 1865, prevented the implementation of the plan.
Fitzpatrick's successor, also an Irishman, Bishop John Williams, in 1866 involved architect Patrick Keely in the design of the Catholic cathedral in a pseudo-Gothic style. The construction of the temple in the southern part of the city began the same year. There were no particular complications in the construction of the cathedral, and by 1875 it was almost completed. All that remained was to build on only a tall spire with a gilded cross that would decorate the entire structure, but for some reason it has not been completed to date.
In 1875, Bishop Williams received a new dignity - became the first archbishop in Boston. He could now hold masses in the newly opened Catholic Cathedral, which received the status of a cathedral, in which the largest organ on the entire coast sounded. The temple has 1700 seats for parishioners.
The new Holy Cross Cathedral has become one of the largest religious buildings not only in the city, but throughout New England.
