Around 1880, the first Slovaks came to Reading from Saris, Spis and Zemplin, areas in Czechoslovakia, and later from Trencin, Orava and Nitra, also in Czechoslovakia. During their first years in Reading, they attended Mass at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, and then [...]
A skyline landmark in the southern section of the city, the steeples of St. Mary's Catholic Church rise above Twelfth and Spruce streets. Polish immigrants began arriving in Reading around 1850, seeking work and livelihood in the iron foundries here. The majority [...]
Catholic education was in its prime in the early 1960s. Overcrowding at Central Catholic High School and St. Peter’s High School necessitated the need for another High School. In 1961, Bishop Joseph McShea, of the newly created Allentown Diocese, inaugurated a massive building [...]
On Sunday, May 24th, 1846, dedication services were held at the newly built Saint Peter's church. The congregation of the new church increased rapidly so that in 1854, there were said to be about 3,000 souls composed of about equal number of Irish, [...]
As a preface to the history of Saint Peter the Apostle R.C. Church in Reading, it may be of interest to first relate a few things about the development of Catholicity in Pennsylvania, in so far as it involves Berks County. As is [...]
The first Catholic congregation to be established in Pennsylvania was in 1734 when Father Greaton, S. J., a missionary from Maryland, built the Church of St. Joseph in Willing’s Alley in Philadelphia. In 1741 Father Theodore Schneider was sent by the German Province [...]
