Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Savannah)
| Cathedral of St. John the Baptist | |
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The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
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| Location | 222 East Harris Street, Savannah, Georgia 
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| Country |
 United States
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| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | Savannah Cathedral Website |
| History | |
| Dedicated | April 30, 1876 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Ephraim Francis Baldwin |
| Style | French Gothic |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | Most Rev. Gregory John Hartmayer, OFM Conv. Most Rev. Kevin Boland, DD (Bishop Emeritus) |
| Rector | Rev. J. Gerard Schreck, JCD, JV |
| Vicar(s) | Rev. Daniel F. Firmin |
| Priest(s) | Rev. Monsignor William O. O’Neill, V.F. (Retired) |
| Deacon(s) | Rev. Mr. Dewain E. Smith |
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Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
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| Part of | Savannah Historic District (#66000277) |
| Added to NRHP | November 13, 1966 |
The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is a Roman Catholic cathedral at 222 East Harris Street, Savannah, Georgia, in the United States. It is the Mother Church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah.
The colonial charter of Savannah prohibited Roman Catholics from settling in the city. The English trustees feared that Catholics would be more loyal to the Spanish authorities in Florida than to the English government in Georgia, however this prohibition faded shortly after the American Revolution. The church's congregation was reorganized about 1796. French Catholic émigrés established the first church in 1799 after they fled Haiti after slave rebellions that began on the Caribbean island in 1791. It became the main church for free blacks from Haiti in the early 19th century. Construction began on the new Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in 1873 and was completed with the addition of the spires in 1896. The structure was nearly destroyed by fire in 1898 but through diligent effort was rebuilt by 1899.
The congregation constructed its first church on Liberty Square in 1779 and in 1811, choose a site on Drayton and Perry Streets for a larger building. Bishop John England of the Diocese of Charleston, which encompassed Savannah, consecrated the new church April 1, 1839. Pope Pius IX established the Diocese of Savannah in July 1850 and the congregation began to plan for a new cathedral in 1870 under Savannah's fourth Bishop, The Right Reverend Ignatius Persico. Most Reverend James Roosevelt Bayley, Archbishop of Baltimore, presided at the dedication of the Neo-Gothic sanctuary April 30, 1876. However, the brick structure lacked spires which were not added until 1896 when it also received a coating of stucco and whitewash.
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