About Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, Tennessee:
Built in 1908, the original church featured an altar of Tennessee marble. It served as the parish’s church until 1926, when the current building was dedicated. Father Lorigan was named Holy Ghost’s first pastor, celebrated its first Mass, and baptized its first infant, James Edward Harris.
Holy Ghost School (now St. Joseph School) opened in September 1908, with 80 students and was managed by the Sisters of Mercy.
Holy Ghost’s fourth pastor, Father L. J. Kemphues, announced plans for construction of a new church. Cincinnati architects Crowe and Schulte were retained, along with Knoxville contractor J.M. Dunn and Son, to design and build the current Indiana Bedford stone Norman-Gothic structure, one of the most beautiful churches in Tennessee. The groundbreaking took place in 1925. A year later, the new (and current) Holy Ghost Church was dedicated. Performing for the occasion were a 20-piece orchestra and a large mixed choir.
Three days after Christmas 1931, the tabernacle and Blessed Sacrament were chiseled from the altar and stolen. They were found undisturbed three days later in a vacant house downtown.
During the four-year pastorate of Father Leo Baldinger the convent was remodeled, and planning began for a new elementary school. But St. Joseph School became a reality in large part through the efforts of Father Baldinger’s successor, Father Albert J. Henkel, who set the record as longest-serving pastor. One of Father Henkel’s greatest accomplishments was helping to make the church debt-free. On Pentecost Sunday 1976 the mortgage was burned to celebrate the achievement.
Holy Ghost Catholic Church had offered Masses in both the novus Ordo English version and the Traditional Latin Mass.The traditional Latin Mass will cease by 23 November 2025, in accordance with the Vatican’s implementation of Pope Francis’s 2021 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes.
Traveling to Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, Tennessee:
Address: 1041 N. Central Street, Knoxville, TN
Please note: Mailing address: 111 Hinton Ave., Knoxville TN 37917
Phone: +1 (865) 522-2205
email: office@holyghostknoxville.org
Click here for the official website of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, Tennessee: