Erasing St. Boniface

The history of St. Boniface began with the establishment of St. Peter’s Church in 1843 to serve the German Catholics in Philadelphia’s West Kensington neighborhood. The parish grew quickly and in 1866 the property on which St. Boniface and an adjoining school would be built was purchased. The cornerstone was laid in 1868 but St. Boniface was not dedicated until 1872 because of funding. The financial troubles continued until the Archbishop intervened and wrote a letter on behalf of the church requesting assistance from Rome. Though the ship carrying the letter wrecked and caught fire, the mail bag carrying it washed ashore and the singed but legible missive was delivered. It was deemed to be the work of God that the letter survived, and the Archbishops requests were granted. The Redemptorists, a society of missionary priests specializing in preaching to the poor, took over the church. The Sisters who lived in the school vacated the third floor and prepared meals for their new guests.

The demographics of the neighborhood shifted over the years and the church population declined. The dwindling parish was unable to keep up with maintenance on the building, and in its final days scaffolding was erected in front of the building to keep people from getting hit by falling debris and the windows were removed because the lead filling had eroded so badly that they were crumbling. Repairs were reportedly estimated at seven million dollars, and though it survived longer than many of the other churches in the area, the Archdiocese closed it in 2006. It was purchased by a developer who demolished it in 2012 to make way for housing.

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