Saints Peter and Paul Jesuit Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located at 629 East Jefferson Avenue in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. It is the oldest existing church in the city of Detroit, and was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1971.

History

In 1844, Bishop

Peter Paul Lefevere Peter Paul Lefevere, or Lefebre (April 30, 1804 – March 4, 1869), was a 19th-century Belgians, Belgian born bishop of the Catholic Church in the United States. He was a missionary priest in the states of Missouri, Illinois and Iowa before he se ...

, who served as

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

of the

Diocese of Detroit The Archdiocese of Detroit () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church covering the south-east portion of Michigan in the United States. The archdiocese consists counties of Lapeer County, Michigan, Lap ...

, began construction on Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral; the cornerstone is dated June 29, 1844. Francis Letourneau drew the plans and Peter Kindenkens supervised the construction. Construction was completed over four years, as the bishop paid for each stage of construction with cash. The church was consecrated on June 29, 1848, as the cathedral church of the diocese. The original parishioners were predominantly Irish, with some French families attending. Following Lefevere's death, under Caspar Borgess, the second Bishop of Detroit, the church remained the cathedral until 1877, when he gave the title to the building to the

Jesuit Order The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by ...

with the intention of starting Detroit's first Catholic college. The church then became SS. Peter & Paul Jesuit Church. The Jesuit college eventually became the University of Detroit-Mercy, and UDM's law school still occupies the building adjacent to the church. The church was altered in 1879 and 1882, completely renovated in 1892, and remodeled again in 1911. A chapel was added to the rear of the building in 1918. Although these alterations changed the look of the church, the original plan has been substantially preserved. The church is still in use, offering Sunday and some weekday masses.

Description

Saints Peter and Paul Church is a three-aisled church, built of Detroit common brick. The front façade is gabled and topped by a short square

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

. The tower was originally intended to support a tall spire, which was never built. There is a central entrance pavilion, set between arched windows and Ionic pilasters. The pilasters continue along the side, separating the side elevation into seven bays with tall, rounded arch windows. A heavy frieze surmounts the walls. The interior of the church features hand-carved oak confessionals, a barrel vaulted ceiling painted with murals of the apostles, and an extraordinary

Carrara marble Carrara marble, or Luna marble (''marmor lunense'') to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara ...

altar designed by Gustav Adolph Mueller and featuring a bas relief of the crucifixion by Joseph Sibbel. These details were added during later renovations; the organ case is the only surviving original element.

Gallery

File:Saints Peter and Paul Church Detroit original plan.jpg, Original planned appearance. File:Saints Peter and Paul Church Detroit 1934.jpg, The church in 1934 File:UDM downtown campus.jpg, Side elevation of the church, 2007

References

External links

Ss. Peter and Paul Jesuit Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saints Peter and Paul Church, Detroit, Michigan

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

Irish-American culture in Michigan Churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit Roman Catholic churches completed in 1848 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites in Wayne County, Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Detroit Roman Catholic cathedrals in Michigan Romanesque Revival architecture in Michigan 1848 establishments in Michigan Society of Jesus in Michigan

History

Description

Gallery

See also

References

External links