St. Vincent de Paul Church (Manhattan)
| Parish of St. Vincent de Paul | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 40°44′37″N 73°59′37″W / 40.74357°N 73.99365°WCoordinates: 40°44′37″N 73°59′37″W / 40.74357°N 73.99365°W | |
| Location | 123 West 23rd Street, New York, New York 10011 |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| History | |
| Founded | 1841 |
| Founder(s) | Bishop Charles Auguste Marie Joseph, Count of Forbin-Janson, S.P.M. |
| Dedication | St. Vincent de Paul |
| Dedicated | 1841 (first church), 1869 (current church) |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | closed |
| Architect(s) | Henry Engelbert, Anthony J. DePace (facade) |
| Style | Romanesque Revival, Classical Revival (facade) |
| Completed | 1841 (first church), 1869 (current church), 1939 (facade) |
| Construction cost | $15,000 (1841); $100,000 (1869) |
| Closed | January 6, 2013 |
| Specifications | |
| Capacity | 1,000 people |
| Administration | |
| Archdiocese | New York |
The Parish of St. Vincent de Paul was a national parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. Founded in 1841, it was dedicated to serve the needs of the French-speaking population of the city. The parish church was located at 123 West 23rd Street, New York, New York. The parish was closed in January 2013.
The Roman Catholic Church in France had been devastated by the social upheavals of the French Revolution. Much of the population was in deep economic misery, and the level of religious knowledge, after the destruction of church institutions which had been built up over centuries, was dismal. A strong need was felt for a re-evangelization of the nation. In 1808 the Society of the Fathers of Mercy were founded by the Abbé Jean-Baptiste Rauzan in Lyons in response to this need. They formed bands of Catholic priests who would go from door to door, if needed, to invite people to the parish missions which they would preach. Through these, they worked to give the French people knowledge and help them commit to their traditional Catholic faith.
Given their experience in working with populations who had lost touch with the institutions of the Catholic faith, several Catholic bishops in the United States invited the members of the society to come as missionaries to the nation, then a vast mission territory. In October 1839, one of the founders of the Society, Charles Auguste Marie Joseph, Count of Forbin-Janson, the exiled Bishop of Nancy in France, arrived in New York City to start a nationwide preaching tour for which he had been authorized by Pope Gregory XVI. Finding no place of worship for the French-speaking people of the city, he learned that the French-speaking population was starting to attend services in the Protestant Huguenot churches, as they were conducted in French. In his sermon in French in a Mass he celebrated at St. Peter's Church, he challenged the French Catholic community of the city to establish a French-speaking church. To help in the endeavor, he contributed $6,500 from his own vast wealth to start the construction of the church.
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