Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is a cathedral and parish church located in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It is the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville. The original cathedral church was completed in 1956 and the present church was completed in 2018.

Sacred Heart Parish can trace its history back to 1952 when Bishop William Adrian of Nashville; the Rev. Joseph P. Follman, V.F., Dean of East Tennessee; and the Rev. Christopher P. Murray, Pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Knoxville determined that Knoxville needed a third Catholic parish. Land was purchased in Bearden the following year for $25,000. The Rev. Edward Dolan replaced Father Murray as Immaculate Conception’s pastor in 1955. He started to negotiate with Baumann and Baumann Architects and Emory and Richards General Contractors to build a church, school, rectory, and convent for $1 million. The parish was officially established on January 1, 1956, with 199 families. Father Dolan was appointed the parish’s first pastor and served the parish until 1972. He initially made his residence in one of the finished rooms of the school building on July 18, 1956. Sacred Heart School opened on September 4, 1956, with an enrollment of 132 students and 5 faculty members. The rectory was completed in November of the same year. The first Mass celebrated in the new church was Midnight Mass on Christmas, 1956.

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