Bahamas Philately: St. Francis Xavier Cathedral

St. Francis Xavier Cathedral is the oldest Roman Catholic Church in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. It is located in West Street, Nassau.

From 1866, the Catholic community in the Bahamas was placed under the Diocese of Charleston, in the U.S. Petitions were made for a permanent parish priest to be assigned to Nassau in 1885, after which responsibility was transferred to the Archdiocese of New York, which sent Fr. Charles G. O’Keefe in August. Within a few days, a site was selected and Lady Georgiana Ayde-Curran, who had led the efforts to establish the parish, laid the cornerstone .

The first Mass was celebrated November 7, 1886, and Michael Corrigan, Archbishop of New York, dedicated the church to St. Francis Xavier on February 13, 1887. St. Francis Xavier, the saint in whose honour the cathedral is named, and the co-patron saint of the Archdiocese of Nassau, is considered among the greatest missionaries since the apostles.

The church’s capacity was doubled in 1899 with the addition of transepts on either side of the sanctuary. The southern extension and two towers were completed in 1934, doubling the size of the church again.

On 7 February 1932, the church was designated pro-cathedral of the newly created Apostolic Prefecture of the Bahamas. It was elevated to cathedral status with the erection of the Diocese of Nassau on July 5, 1960.