Immaculate Conception Co-Cathedral, Basseterre, St. Kitts - Roman Catholic Churches on Waymarking.com

In 1858 the first Catholic parish was established with the appointment of Father Phillip Lynch to the island of St. Kitts. Prior to 1858 work had begun with sporadic funding to erect the church in Basseterre. After 12 years of toil the church was completed in 1860. The church acquired two adjoining properties on September 3, 1863 and the current school and Parish center were built and opened in 1872.

In 1895 a Convent was opened and in July 1896 the Convent School was opened by four Sisters of Mercy starting with 40 students. Funding problems plagued the church forcing a series of closings and reopening in the early years of the parish. In December, 1911, the Convent was reopened and the Order of the Union of the Sacred Heart and the Sisters arrived.

In 1923 a building plan was established and fundraising efforts began. After securing the needed seed money the old church was closed on January 16, 1927 and the old church was dismantled to make way for the new church construction.

St. Patrick’s Day of 1927 marked the beginning of the construction work and the conrner stone was set on April 22, 1927. The church opened its new doors in December 6, 1928 during the dedication ceremony.

“St. Kitts and Nevis became an independent nation in September 1983. This was the time when both capitals of the two independent nations needed to have their Cathedral. It was a time when a new cathedral started to be built in St. Johns, Antigua and this church of Immaculate Conception was raised to the rank of the Co-Cathedral.”

““..in the early stages of the French occupation of Basseterre, a Roman Catholic Church was erected in the town by the Jesuits and dedicated to Our Lady. Notre Dame was burnt to the ground in 1706 during the Anglo-French War by English soldiers who were billeted there. The Church was re-built by 1710 and re-named St. George’s. From the 1720’s, it became a place of worship for the Anglicans.

After the take-over of the island by the English in 1713, Roman Catholics were forbidden by law to worship in public. They also suffered certain civil and military disabilities. For example, Roman Catholics were required to take and subscribe certain oaths and declarations, such as the declaration against Transubstantiation, before they would quality for civil or military office or for sitting and voting in the island’s legislature. An Act passed in 1829 finally to remove all disabilities. As a consequence, there was a revival of Roman Catholicism.

The steady influx of Portuguese migrants from the island of Madeira from 1835 onwards strengthened the growth of the Roman Catholic community.” Inniss (1985)

“The presbytery was completely rebuilt to retain its former façade in 2006. In 2007 with the help of the generous donor the plans for amalgamation of two schools St. Theresa’s Convent and the St. Joseph school has begun. The project envisages complete rebuilding of the schools by 2011 and on the place of the two schools opening one Immaculate Conception School. In 2007 also the plans and fund-raising started for the complete renovation of the Co-Cathedral.”


Sources Used:
(visit link)
(visit link)
(visit link)

Type of Church: Cathedral Status of Building: Actively in use for worship Date of organization: 01/01/1858 Date of building construction: 12/06/1928 Diocese: Saint John’s – Basseterre Address/Location: East Independence Square Basseterre, St. Kitts Dominant Architectural Style: Not listed Associated Shrines, Art, etc.: Not listed Archdiocese: Not listed Relvant Web Site: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
To log a visit to this waymark, you must post at least one original photo of the site, give the date and a brief description of your visit.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   12/17/2018 nvtriker visited it 02/09/2015 denben visited it 01/22/2015 LCSM visited it 01/14/2015 merlot visited it 06/06/2014 el_norso visited it 04/12/2013 Free2bme29 visited it 12/12/2012 Casper&Aero visited it 03/27/2012 Woisträßler visited it 02/25/2011 broder visited it 11/21/2010 yorelken visited it 03/01/2010 js333 visited it 01/07/2010 PersonsMD visited it 04/03/2007 kJfishman visited it

View all visits/logs