Holy Name of Jesus R.C. Church

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Exterior of the Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church.

The Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church stands at 96th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, New York City.

It was taken over by the Franciscans in 1990. The parish has an attached elementary and middle school, as well as a community center on West 97th Street.

The current Pastor is Father Francis X. Gunn, OFM. The associate friars are Father Michael Tyson, OFM, Father Hugh Hines, OFM, Father Dan Kenna, OFM, and Father Michael McDonald, OFM.

[edit] History

Interior of the church.

The Church of the Holy Name of Jesus was organized in 1868 in the area then known as Bloomingdale. A wood-frame church was erected on Bloomingdale Road at what is now Broadway and 97th Street.

Thomas Henry Poole designed the present Gothic Revival church, located at 740 Amsterdam Avenue at 96th Street, which was built in stages from 1891 to 1900. The steeple was added in 1918. The large interior is noted for its hammer-and-beam ceiling, stained glass windows, terrazzo floor, and beautiful marble altars.

In 1997 the church suffered damage when the air compressor in the organ caught fire during a noon mass. The church took the opportunity to renovate, which was finished in 2000.

[edit] Community Roles

Holy Name has taken a leading role in addressing social justice issues on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Under the direction of Fr. Mike Tyson, the church has sponsored numerous petitions and took a leading role in closing a zoning loophole that a land developer had exploited in order to build two large condominium towers. Holy Name also organizes an interfaith March for Peace every year on Martin Luther King, Jr Day, along with several Lutheran and Episcopal Churches and several synagogues and is the epicenter of the organization West Siders for Peace.