NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — A yearlong celebration begins tomorrow marking the 175th anniversary of the Catholic Diocese of Nashville.
Bishop David Choby will lead a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows in downtown Nashville. St. Mary was the cathedral for the diocese from 1847 to 1914.
The celebration will continue with a monthly mass in some of the oldest churches across the diocese and conclude with a larger celebration in September 2013.
Diocese spokesman Rick Musacchio says Catholics comprise about four percent of the Mid-State’s population.
“We have about 70,000 registered Catholics in 53 parishes. We have 18 elementary schools, three Catholic High Schools, and there are four Catholic hospitals in the Diocese of Nashville, which is in the middle third of the state.”
According to a news release from the Diocese of Nashville, it was among the first 20 dioceses created in the United States.