The Savannah Cathedral that Rose from Ashes

Freedom of religion is a hallmark, a right, and a blessing that Catholic Americans practice every time they attend Mass, make pilgrimage, or participate in public prayer. It is one of the primary reasons that Europeans immigrated to America, and it is protected and enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

But while many early Americans valued freedom of religion, it was still a rocky road for Catholics, particularly in the southern colony of Georgia.

In the colony of Georgia, Catholicism was actually illegal to practice, and it was merely tolerated after the Revolutionary War. Catholics living in Georgia were considered “papists”, a derogatory term that implied Catholics were only loyal to the pope and not their country. This couldn’t have been farther from the truth, as faithful Catholics from Haiti, France, and Ireland fought for their new country at the Siege of Savannah in 1779. Ten years later, Catholics finally began to gain equal rights in Georgia with the acceptance of the U.S. Constitution. 

French and Haitian immigrants went on to form the community known as the Congregation de Saint Jean-Baptiste in the late 1700s. Despite being a minority in the south, the Catholics in Savannah decided to begin building a cathedral.

“Building the cathedral in the mid-1870s was quite a leap of faith,” explained Catherine Kostilnik, tour coordinator of the Cathedral Basilica.   “Would there be enough supporters to fund the construction of the Cathedral, let alone its continued upkeep by the local Catholic population?”

“Savannah is a port city and attracted many immigrant groups from Europe, particularly the Irish in the 1840s,” she continued. “Many of those original families and their descendants were directly responsible for funding, building, and maintaining the Cathedral, and are still so today.”

The official cornerstone for the Cathedral was laid in 1873, and it was first named and dedicated to Our Lady, under the title “Our Lady of Perpetual Help”, and it would retain this name for a decade.

In 1898, a terrible fire devastated the Cathedral. By the time the flames died down, only the outside walls and two spires remained. While their beautiful church was mostly in ashes, Bishop Becker, sixth bishop of the diocese, made the declaration that “The Cathedral must be rebuilt, and as soon as possible.” Following their shepherd's command, the Savannah Catholic community rose up to rebuild their cathedral almost immediately. 

By 1899, the seventh bishop of Savannah, Benjamin Keiley, celebrated the first Mass on Christmas Eve - a true cause for celebration. The Cathedral was dedicated in 1900 by Archbishop Sebastian Martinelli, apostolic delegate to the United States, and it was dedicated under the patronage of Saint John the Baptist.

Over 100 years later, this magnificent cathedral was raised to the status of Minor Basilica by Pope Francis in 2020. The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist continues to draw thousands of visitors each year, with over 258,000 pilgrims visiting in 2025. While the Cathedral Basilica possesses a rich history, visitors often experience more than just another historical site.

“We get visitors who come just to view the beauty of the Cathedral, and we have others who come in to pray,” shared Kostilnik. “We have others who walk in and immediately cry. Some people are overwhelmed when they come in. Often I am told that people ‘feel’ something here. I say that feeling is the Holy Spirit reaching out to them.” 

Many of the tour guides, or docents, of the Cathedral Basilica attest to the movement of the Holy Spirit, as the Cathedral Basilica itself provides evangelism to non-Catholic visitors. One docent shared how a visiting couple shared that they had never visited a Catholic church before. After the docent’s explanation of the Catholic liturgy, the couple said with surprise, “We didn’t know Catholics read the Bible!”

“It was a wonderful opportunity to share the commonalities among other Christian denominations,” shared the docent in the Savannah Cathedral’s newsletter, The Twin Spires.

This moment of evangelization is not isolated. Another docent told how one young student, visiting from the Savannah College of Art and Design, was so moved by the beauty of the Cathedral that she asked the docent a most profound question: “How do I find God?”

It is our hope at CatholicGo that no matter where you travel, you too encounter God in a profound way on your pilgrimage. If you are traveling in the southeastern portion of the United States, we encourage you to visit the Southern beauty that is the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist. 

Tours are available from 9-11:30 AM and 1-4:30 PM on weekdays, as well as 1-4:30 PM on Sundays. 

Links:

https://savannahcathedral.org/visit/

https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/catholic-church/

https://savannahcathedral.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Twin-Spires_Spring-2026-2.pdf