The Catholic Church in the City of Albany

The Diocese of Albany was erected on the 23rd of April in 1847 from territory originally  part of the Diocese of New York. The first bishop was the Rt. Rev. John McCloskey who later became Archbishop of New York and the first American Cardinal. Its current size of 14 counties was set in 1886, following the loss of territory with the erections of the Dioceses of Ogdensburg (1872) and Syracuse (1886).

According to http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org, in 1950, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany had the following statistics:

Total population: 952,022

Number of Catholics: 285,775 (30%)

379 Secular (Diocesan) Priests

198 Religious Order Priests

495 Catholics per Priest

0     Permanent Deacons

315 Professed Male Religious (Brothers)

710 Professed Female Religious (Sisters)

159 Parishes run by both the Diocese and Religious Orders

At this time, the City of Albany had 18 parishes, one mission and the Diocesan Cathedral (Immaculate Conception). However, as with all the changes in demographics of the late 1950's to the present, most of these city parishes no longer exist. Here is the list of current parishes in the City of Albany and their predecessors:

All Saints Catholic Church (2009): The original Holy Cross (1842-German) was demolished during the construction of the South Mall and relocated up to Western Avenue. The parish merged  in 2009 with St. Margaret Mary (1939) at the St. Margaret Mary site. This parish has a grammar school, which is a merger of the former Holy Cross and St. Teresa of Avila grammar schools occupies the former Holy Cross church and school.

Blessed Sacrament (1898): Close to the city line of Albany and the town of Colonie has sat Blessed Sacrament for over 100 years. Also, part of Blessed Sacrament are the former churches of St. Patrick's (1858), St. Casimir's (Polish-1893) and Our Lady of Angels (German-1867) merged in 2005 to form Holy Family Parish at the St. Patrick's site. Holy Family closed in 2010 and the church is still open, being run as a shrine mission of Blessed Sacrament. This parish also has a grammar school.

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (1852): This church was one of famed 19th century church architect Patrick Keeley's first projects. The mother church of the diocese just received a multi-million dollar face lift that restored her to the regal elegance fitting to a cathedral church. 

Mater Christi (2009): The two youngest parishes in the City of Albany, St. Teresa of Avila (1920) merged with St. Catherine of Siena (1953) in 2009 at the St. Catherine site to form Mater Christi. This parish was named after the now closed diocesan minor seminary down the street on New Scotland Avenue. This parish has a grammar school.

Sacred Heart of Jesus (1874): The only Catholic church in the North End of Albany

St. Francis of Assisi (2010): St. John's (1837) merged with St. Ann's (1866) in 1978 forming the parish of St. John/St. Ann at the St. Ann site. They later merged with St. James (1913) under the name, keeping both sites open.

St. Mary's (1797): The oldest church in the diocese (2nd oldest in the state, next to St. Peters in Manhattan) celebrated 200 years in 1997. The parish is still open, but the St. Philip's Mission Church (1926) closed in the 1970's. (Note: St. John Neumann, CSSR who was the first (and only) American bishop to be canonized, said mass at St. Mary's)

St. Vincent de Paul (1895): One of two churches on Madison Avenue (other being the Cathedral) right next to the College of St. Rose. 

These are parishes that have been suppressed and no longer exist. As soon as I find more information on these parishes ill add them to this post:

Assumption (French-1842) was demolished in the 1960's with the construction of the South Mall. They moved the parish to Latham

Our Lady Help of Christians (German-1874) closed in 2002

St. Anthony (Italian-1908) closed in the 1970's

St. George's (Lithuanian-1916) closed in 2005

St. Joseph's (1848): This "Church of Bishops" (former pastors John J. Conroy and Thomas M.A. Burke later became the second and fourth Bishops of Albany respectively) and Patrick Keeley masterpiece was the crown jewel of Arbor Hill. It saw the "long goodbye" as people moved out of the city into the suburbs. St. Joseph's celebrated its last mass in the church in the early 1980's, with the parish being suppressed in the early 1990's. It is now owned by the Albany Historical Society. Most of its interior furnishings were utilized in the construction of the new Christ the King church in Guilderland.

Currently, Albany has 3 parish elementary schools (All Saints, Blessed Sacrament and Mater Christi), and one diocesan high school: Bishop Maginn. It was formed in the 1970's from the merger of Cardinal McCloskey (which was a merger of the South End HS of Cathedral and St. John's, later St. Joseph's in Arbor Hill) and Vincentian Institute. Albany also has 3 private Catholic schools, Holy Names (PK-12, female), St. Gregory's (N-K coed, male grades 1-8) and Christian Brothers Academy (6-12, male).

This is where I am going to begin my journey...some of the closed churches still have access (sold to other faiths or organizations) and others are shuttered or destroyed. My goal is one active church a week...so the journey begins!

Until we meet again, keep in mind what Johnny said....Just Keep Walking

-WC

PS: Also for those of you who want to know, here are the Albany stats for 2006 (again, from www.catholic-hierarchy.org)

Total Population:: 1,351,000

Catholics:             403,000 (29.8%)

232 Secular (Diocesan) Priests

108 Religious Order Priests

1,185 Catholics per Priest

105     Permanent Deacons

188 Professed Male Religious (Brothers)

832 Professed Female Religious (Sisters)

167 Parishes run by both the Diocese and Religious Orders