Brooklyn’s first Catholic church celebrates 200th anniversary
Cathedral Basilica of St. James marks 200th anniversary with special mass this Sunday
The parish of St. James, which played a significant role in Brooklyn’s religious history, marks its 200th anniversary with a special Mass that the Most Reverend Robert Brennan, bishop of Brooklyn, will lead this Sunday.
The parish, which pre-dates the Diocese of Brooklyn by 31 years, was founded in 1822.
Prior to the construction of St. James, there was no established church on Long Island, which, in the early 19th century, consisted of Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties. Residents of the Village of Brooklyn, weary of commuting by boat to Manhattan in order to attend Mass, decided to build a church on what is now on Jay Street near Tillary Street.