5 Breathtaking Catholic sites in Rhode Island

Rhode Island is a fascinating place for American Catholics: Although the smallest U.S. state by area, covering 1,214 miles, Little Rhody is home to the highest percentage of Catholics in the country! More than half of its residents are Catholic.

The Ocean State has a rich Catholic history, beginning with the first Catholic Mass in Rhode Island in 1780 at the Baptist Church in Newport. The Mass was celebrated for French soldiers who were camped in the city during the American Revolution. 

The first Catholic church in Rhode Island was established in 1828 in Newport to serve the needs of Catholics working on Fort Adams, and the Catholic population grew enormously throughout the 1800s and 1900s with the influx of many immigrants from historically Catholic countries.

If you find yourself visiting Rhode Island or call this lovely state home, don’t miss these beautiful and historically significant Catholic sites.

Portsmouth Abbey Monastery is a house of prayer and work for the Monks of the English Benedictine Congregation. The monastery is over 100 years old and visitors are welcome to the 525-acre campus for various retreats, tours, and times of prayer, as well as just to stop by and pray in the Abbey Church.

Besides the monastery, the campus is home to the renowned Benedictine boarding school Portsmouth Abbey School and the Portsmouth Institute, dedicated to the restoration of Christian culture.

Founded in the summer of 1923, the Church of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and Shrine of the Little Flower recently celebrated its 100th Anniversary. The shrine and parish were started just four months after St. Thérèse was beatified, making it among the first in the world dedicated to St. Thérèse of Lisieux and the oldest in North America. 

For the past century, this place has been a rural oasis of prayer, pilgrimage, and community.  Today the church and shrine are a mission of Our Lady of Good Help parish. 

This breathtaking edifice is historically significant for several reasons. 

Not only is it the oldest Catholic parish in Rhode Island, dating back to 1828, but also was the church where Jacqueline Lee Bouvier married then-Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1953. They continued to worship there, always in pew #10, whenever they visited the area. 

Known locally as St. Mary’s Church, the church is on the National Register of Historic Places and is considered one of the most charming buildings in New England.

The two towers of this magnificent cathedral stand as a beacon of service and dedication to the people of Rhode Island. Its history dates back to 1832, although the current structure was consecrated in 1889.

The Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul features luminous stained-glass windows depicting biblical scenes, and its soaring stone interior lifts the heart and mind to God. Well worth visiting for its beauty alone, the cathedral offers an array of devotions and ministries for the local community.

The St. Ann Arts and Cultural Center is home to North America's largest collection of fresco paintings. Italian artist Guido Nincheri used members of the community as the models for the 475 faces that adorn the walls and ceilings of this masterpiece.

In 2011, Yankee Magazine voted the St. Ann Arts and Cultural Center its “Best Attraction,” saying “The walls, vaults and ceilings of this former church are covered in frescos beautiful enough to convert an atheist."  The magazine dubbed it “The Sistine Chapel of America.”

The Renaissance-style church was built in 1913 and was a Roman Catholic church within the Diocese of Providence for nearly 100 years, but it closed in 2000 and later reopened as an historic cultural center. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Founded in 1917 by the Dominicans, Providence College is a private Catholic college that offers 47 undergraduate majors and 17 different graduate programs. The institution is well-known for the large number of Dominican friars and sisters who are present on campus. Every student who enrolls in the college is required to complete a 2-year Development of Western Civilization program.