Holy Trinity Church, Georgetown (1789)

This parish is one of the oldest in the archdiocese. The first pastor was Rev. Francis Neale, S.J., a brother of the second Archbishop of Baltimore, who in 1789 built the church, which has been called the cradle of Catholicism in the District of Columbia, in Georgetown. The church was not completed until 1792, and it is now known as Trinity School on N Street. During the early stages of the history of the parish, services were held in a building on the site of the present church, where all the Catholics of the country gathered to hear Mass. The property on which the church stands was secured in 1787 from John K. Threlkeld, one of the large landowners of the neighborhood, and the deed, which is still on file at Rockville, Md., transferring the property to Rev. John Carroll, states that the consideration was five shillings, so that the greater portion of the land was evidently a gift. At that time Father Neale was sometimes at his wits’ end to raise money; he even gave a lien on the rents of the pews to the builder, Alexander Doyle.

During the War the Federal Government used the church as a hospital, at which time the saintly Father Aloysius Rocoffort, S.J., did heroic work among the wounded. The parish has been in charge of the Jesuits from its foundation. In 1850 the cornerstone of a new church was laid, and the building was dedicated in 1851. The old church was torn down in the fall of 1913. In 1887 Father Kelly, S.J., was pastor, and in 1896, Father W. J. Scanlan, S.J., not only paid the debt, but installed electric light and steam heat. Rev. Edward Corbett was appointed to the pastorate in July, 1909. He was born in Boston, in August, 1863, entered in 1880 the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus at West Park on the Hudson, N.Y., received his classical education at Frederick, Md., made his course in the natural sciences, philosophy and theology at Woodstock, Md., and finished in Florissant, Mo. He taught at Washington, St. Francis Xavier’s N.Y., Worcester, Philadelphia, Jersey City, and was minister of Gonzaga College, Washington, D.C., and of Boston College, Boston, Mass., from which position he was transferred in July, 1909, to that of pastor of Holy Trinity Church. His assistants are: Rev. P. Brennan and Rev. Ed. J. Magrath.

The Catholic institutions in the parish are the Georgetown Convent of the Visitation, the Convent of the Good Shepherd, Holy Trinity Convent and the Georgetown University Hospital, all of which are attended from Holy Trinity. The parochial school for boys is in charge of 4 Sisters of Providence, and has 220 pupils, and that for girls, in charge of 4 Sisters of the Visitation, has 120 pupils. The Sunday-school has 450 pupils and 50 teachers.

The parish societies are: B.V.M., Sanctuary, Tabernacle, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Peter Claver’s Beneficial Society (for colored people), School Association, Bona Mors Confraternity, Apostleship of Prayer, and Holy Name. The Catholic population numbers 4000.