Although most of the Catholic cathedrals in the United States are of recent construction, there are 13 that sink their foundations in foundations related to the Spanish presence in much of the current territory of the country.
Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States is being celebrated precisely these days, an initiative by President Lyndon B. Johnson that began as a week and now extends from September 15 to October 15 each year.
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Of the nearly 200 Catholic cathedrals in the country, most were built from the 19th century onwards. A few, however, are connected by the first evangelizers of the continent, arrived by the impulse of the Spanish Crown since the end of the 15th century.
1. Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo (Monterrey, California)
The temple that gave rise to the Cathedral of the Diocese of Monterrey, California, was the chapel of the Mission of San Carlos Borromeo founded by San Junípero Serra in 1770 in the town of Carmel-by-the-Sea.
The original church was destroyed in 1789 by a cannon salvo, so the current cathedral building was built between 1791 and 1794, making it the oldest (and smallest) cathedral in service in the United States. Joined.
2. Cathedral of San Juan Bautista (Puerto Rico)
The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Archdiocese of San Juan of Puerto Rico, located in Old San Juan, is also the National Shrine of the Virgin of Providence, its patron saint. Puerto Rico is a commonwealth state of the United States.
The building began construction in 1521, the same year the city was founded. Its original structure was made of wood and had a thatched roof and stone walls.
Destroyed by a storm, it was restored to standing in the year 1529. It was elevated to the dignity of Minor Basilica by Saint Paul VI in 1978, at the request of the then Archbishop of San Juan, Cardinal Luis Aponte.
3. Cathedral of San Fernando (San Antonio, Texas)
The Cathedral of San Fernando in the city of San Antonio, Texas, is the oldest in the United States. The original church was built between 1738 and 1750 at the initiative of the garrison of the Presidio of San Antonio, among which was a significant number of Spaniards from the Canary Islands.
This connection with the Spanish archipelago located on the west African coast is why the temple is also known for its dedication to Our Lady of Candelaria, patron saint of the Canaries.
The original baptismal font, installed by the Spanish in the original temple, is preserved and is still in use.
4. St. Augustine Cathedral, Texas
Located in the city and diocese of the same name, the current cathedral was built between 1793 and 1797, but the first church on the site dates back to the mid-16th century, making it considered the oldest parish in the United States.
The city of San Agustín was founded on September 8, 1565 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. That same day, Father Francisco López de Mendoza celebrated the first documented Eucharist in the current territory of the United States, some 300 years before La Florida, whose motto is In God we trustbecame the 27th state of the union.
5. Cathedral of St. Augustine (Laredo, Texas)
The town of San Agustín de Laredo was founded in 1755. Five years later, the construction of a small missionary chapel was ordered, the only place of worship until 1778. In that same place, construction began on a new church that was consecrated as a parish. the following year.
In 1866 the construction of a new church began, which was inaugurated in 1872. In 2000, with the creation of the Diocese of Laredo, Pope Saint John Paul II determined that it would be his cathedral.
6. Cathedral of Saint Francis of Assisi (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
The current mother church of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe was built in the second half of the 19th century, its foundations rest on those of the original church built in 1626, which was destroyed in 1680.
The cathedral was built around a second parish built at the beginning of the 18th century, which was dismantled when the new temple was completed.
In the Cathedral of Santa Fe, the Virgin Mary is venerated under the dedication of Our Lady the Conqueror, whose origins date back to the 15th century and was brought to the place by a Spanish missionary.
7. St. Augustine Cathedral (Tucson, Arizona)
The parish that gave rise to the current Cathedral of San Agustín in Tucson, Arizona, is located in the chapel of the Royal Presidio founded in 1775 to defend against Apache attacks and built by Spaniards coming from another fortress with similar characteristics 100 kilometers away. south.
In the mid-19th century the chapel fell into disuse. The former Bishop of Tucson and Archbishop of Santa Fe, Mons. Peter Bourgade, urged the reconstruction of the temple in 1897.
Its current appearance corresponds to an almost total reconstruction, with the exception of the facades and towers, carried out in the 60s of the 20th century.
8. Cathedral of San Felipe (Arecibo, Puerto Rico)
The headquarters of the Diocese of Arecibo (Puerto Rico) was built at the end of the 18th century on the ruins of a first church from the mid-17th century built by the Spanish, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1787.
The reconstruction was not completed until 1846, but four days after being dedicated, it was affected by another earthquake, the effects of which were not alleviated until 1882. A new telluric phenomenon in 1918 damaged its vault, which was replaced by a flat roof.
9. Cathedral of the Sweet Name of Jesus (Caguas, Puerto Rico)
The Cathedral of the Diocese of Caguas (Puerto Rico), is located in the city’s Plaza Palmer, on the same site where a small hermitage dedicated first to San Sebastián del Barrero and then to the Sweet Name of Jesus.
On top of the original, a masonry parish was built in 1830 that had worship until 1928, when it was seriously damaged by Hurricane San Felipe and had the same name that the cathedral maintains today.
Due to the damage, the temple was destroyed and a concrete building was built, completed in 1936. It was restored for the last time in 1999 and became a cathedral in 1964.
10. Cathedral of Santiago Apóstol (Fajardo, Puerto Rico)
The cathedral of the young Diocese of Fajardo-Huamaco, created by Benedict XVI in 2008, is dedicated to Santiago Apóstol. The original parish was founded in 1766, although its first temple was not completed until 1776.
11. Cathedral of Our Lady of Candelaria (Mayagüez, Puerto Rico)
The Cathedral of the Diocese of Mayagüez (Puerto Rico) is located where a wooden church was built in 1763 in the city founded three years earlier by the Spanish Faustino Martínez de Matos, Juan de Silva and Juan de Aponte under the patronage of Our Lady of Candelaria.
Silva and Aponte donated the land for the construction of the temple in 1760. Two decades later, the wood was replaced by masonry.
Starting in 1830, planning began for the new building with three naves and eight altars, which was completed in 1836. After the San Fermín earthquake of 1918 and the subsequent tsunami, the parish was one of the most affected buildings. The restoration concluded in 1920.
In 1976, with the erection of the Diocese of Mayagüez, the temple was named cathedral.
12. Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Ponce, Puerto Rico)
The origin of this cathedral dates back to a small hermitage built in 1670, which was soon transformed into a rustic chapel. With the founding of the city of Ponce in 1692, the temple was constituted as a parish.
The passing of the years required a new structure that was also affected by the 1918 earthquake. In 1924 the church was declared a cathedral.
13. St. Louis Cathedral (New Orleans, Louisiana)
The current Basilica-Cathedral of Saint Louis, King of France in New Orleans was built between 1789 and 1794, during the period of the Governorship of Louisiana, dependent on the Captaincy of Cuba in the Viceroyalty of New Spain.
The first church on the current site of the cathedral was however built in 1718, during French rule, but was destroyed in a fire in 1788. Following a remodeling in the mid-19th century, so that little of the structure remains. Spanish original.
Nicholas de Cardenas
Born in 1980, I am a Spanish husband and father and journalist with more than 20 years of experience in print and digital media, specializing in sociopolitical and religious information. I have worked for more than 10 years in defense of human rights and have accreditations in Journalism and Comprehensive Communication. Since July 2022, I have been a correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN Noticias in Spain, covering international events of the Catholic Church.