Diocese of Saint Petersburg history

Through the diocesan office of Propagation of the Faith, he left for Africa to serve as a missionary in June 1972.

In June of 1973, Notre Dame Academy closed and Bishop Barry High School and Notre Dame Academy merge to become St Petersburg Catholic High School.

Most Reverend Charles B. McLaughlin, the first bishop of the Diocese of St Petersburg, died on December 14, 1978.

By 1981, St Jude had grown larger as more families registered.

A new parish center was built and dedicated on October 28, 1982.

In 1983 a parish administration addition was built adjacent to the center.

The first Mass in Our Lady’s Chapel was offered on December 10, 1984.

On Sunday, May 22, 1988, Father Caverly invited all parishioners to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the parish church and honor the 20th Anniversary of its elevation to cathedral status.

On January 26, 1996, the Cathedral of St Jude hosted the Episcopal ordination and installation of the fourth bishop of St Petersburg, the Most Reverend Robert N. Lynch.

After 24 years, most of it as principal, Sister Patricia Caulfield, O.P., retired from the Cathedral School of St Jude in 2000.

The first Christ Renews His Parish weekends at the Cathedral were held in October 2004.

The Wally and Louise Bishop Center for Ethical Leadership was officially established in 2005.

And, it was on Pentecost Sunday, May 27, 2012, that the last Mass in the original Cathedral was celebrated.

In September 2013, after a little over a year of construction and renovation, the renovated Cathedral of St Jude the Apostle was dedicated.

The Cathedral served as the home of two large diocesan celebrations commemorating the Diocese of St Petersburg’s 50th Anniversary in the spring of 2018.