Architectural style Gothic Revival Construction started 1880 Demolished 1980s | Country United States Completed c.1881 | |
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Town or city Manhattan, New York City | ||
The Church of St. Leo is a former Roman Catholic parish church under the authority of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 11 East 28th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues in Manhattan, New York City.
Contents
Map of Manhattan, New York, NY, USA
History
The parish was established in 1880 to relieve the overcrowded St. Stephen's parish by the Rev. Thomas J. Ducey, its first rector, who continued there until his death in 1909. It was dedicated to St. Leo, patron saint of Pope Leo XIII, the reigning pontiff at the time. The Archbishop of New York at the time was John Cardinal McCloskey, the first American-born Cardinal, who was eligible to take part in the conclave that elected Leo pope (but did not because of travel delays). The parish was marked by its broad humanitarian spirit. It had a separate mortuary chapel at 9 East 28th Street for people of any faith who had died while temporarily being in the city, such as hotel guests. The bodies could remain there until being claimed for a proper funereal arrangement, or St. Leo's clergy would handle the service without remuneration. The parish was suppressed to become a mission of the former St. Stephen's Church. Some sources say the suppression took place in 1908; others that it occurred in 1909, following Fr. Ducey's death. The church building was given to the Sisters of Mary Reparatrix as a convent and retreat house following their expulsion from France in 1910, and the old rectory was turned into a convent inhabited in 1914 by thirteen professed nuns, three lay sisters and a postulant.
Building
The Gothic Revival church was built in 1880 to the designs of Lawrence J. O'Connor.
The plan called for the church to be 50 by 120 feet, with walls 56 feet high. The New York Times reported on August 16, 1880, that “the tower on the east side of the church will be 105 feet high, and over the main entrance will be a colossal cross” The cornerstone was laid August 15, 1880. At that point, the walls had risen twenty feet above ground level and over the basement level. The church was to be roofed in November 1880 and opened for worship around August 1881 at a cost of US$95,000.
New York City Police Department Capt. Berghold with 30 policeman kept the 2,000-person street crowd under control, as every seat within the enclosure of the un-roofed church was already occupied.
“The corner-stone bore a legend in Latin which translates as: ‘His Eminence Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop of New-York, laid the corner-stone of the new church of St. Leo, on the 15th day of August, 1880, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Leo XIII being the reigning Pontiff of the Church. Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States of America; Alonzo B. Cornell, Governor of the State of New-York; Edward Cooper, Mayor of New-York; the Rev. Thomas J. Ducey, Pastor; the Rev. David J. Leahy, assistant, and Lawrence J. O'Connor, architect.’ United States coins of all denominations, a picture of Pope Leo XIII, a large photograph of Cardinal McCloskey, attired in his large cape, copies of Catholic papers, and of New-York daily papers were placed in the corner-stone.”
Cardinal McCloskey did not attend the ceremony because of ill-health. The Vicar General assisted by Rev. McQuirck, assistant priest at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Rev. Frisbie, rector of St. Francis Xavier’s College, the Rev. Salter of St. Joseph’s, the Rev. Wyrich of St. Alphonso’s Church, the Rev. Ducey, pastor of the new church.
The church and rectory-turned convent chapel and convent were eventually sold to a private developer and demolished in the 1980s. The site is now occupied by the plaza in front of the Madison Belvedere Apartments.
Rev. Thomas J. Ducey (1843-1909)
Father Ducey was born 4 February 1843 in Ireland and emigrated to the USA in 1848. He entered the seminary at Troy, New York in 1864, was ordained in December 1868, and became assistant to the Rev. George McCloskey of the Church of the Nativity, Manhattan. During this period, he was also a volunteer chaplain at the Tombs Prison. During a series of sermons in 1871 and 1872, he denounced the Boss Tweed ring, who retaliated by trying to have him removed to a parish outside the city. However, Fr. Ducey had powerful friends and Cardinal McCloskey refused to move him. In 1873 Fr. Ducey was appointed assistant at St. Leo's. He died on 22 August 1909.