Research Items

In 1849 a group of Roman Catholics under the direction of Fr. Augustin Ravoux constructed a church at Main St. & 9^th Ave. NE. Two years later, in 1851, the parish was officially founded. A new church, completed and dedicated by Bishop Cretin in 1852, quickly proved too small, resulting in 1857 in...

German Catholic immigrants who began arriving in St. Anthony in the 1850s initially worshipped in St. Anthony of Padua Church, the only Catholic Church in the village.  In 1856, thirteen people met with Rev. Francis X. Weninger, a German Jesuit priest, to establish the second Catholic parish in...

Not all the Catholic churches in Northeast Minneapolis were established by a particular ethnic group.  St. Clement branched out from St. Anthony of Padua, and according to its records “English was always spoken.”  The parish was established in 1902 and initially worshipped in a small frame building...

The French immigrants who settled around 14^th and Girard established a parish in 1884, St. Clothilde, the fifth oldest Catholic parish in Minneapolis.  It was a division of the French parish of Notre Dame (Our Lady of Lourdes) and was intended to serve French Catholics on the west side of the...

Immigrants from Ukraine, specifically from Galicia, who began to arrive immediately prior to World War I retained strong national ties to their Ukrainian heritage and were not welcomed into the existing Roman Catholic churches.  As a result, at first, they associated with other East Slavs...

Immigrants from Syria and Lebanon began arriving in the Twin Cities in the 1890s, and many settled on the West Side of Saint Paul. These groups held services in their homes when an Orthodox priest was available. In 1913, a congregation was formally organized, and in 1917 the group purchased the...