WHEREAS, The St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church was founded on April 4, 1831 and is the tenth oldest Catholic Church in the City of Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, St. John the Baptist Parish was founded by Father Mulholland with a modest following of 60 parishioners and has been the cornerstone of religious worship in the Manayunk/Roxborough section of the City; and
WHEREAS, In 1878 a parish school was built and was blessed with the services of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who remain today; and
WHEREAS, The Parish grade school has maintained a level of excellence that has been carried through to thousands of children who studied in the classrooms; and
WHEREAS, In the course of its history, the St. John the Baptist congregation grew from sixty Catholics to the present number of four-thousand five hundred parishioners; and
WHEREAS, A new school was built in 1886 in grand style with stained glass widows, a bell tower that stands 200 feet tall with a five-thousand pound copper bell, along with many embellished details inside and out that rivals early Gothic Cathedrals of Europe; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby honor and commend St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church on the occasion of its 175th Jubilee; and
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to the St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church as a symbol of this legislative body's gratitude for the role it has played in its service to God and Humanity.
End