St. Peter the Apostle was constructed in the 1840s in the Romanesque style to meet the needs of the German Catholic population as they moved northward from the old Philadelphia city limits. While under construction, the church was spared from destruction in the 1844 anti-Catholic riots, and was dedicated in 1845. Protestant mobs burned two nearby churches, but St. Peter may have been spared due to active guarding by parishioners and because the church largely served German families rather than Irish families, who were the primary targets of the violence.

Since its founding, the church has been under the care of the Redemptorists, a religious community of priests and brothers dedicated to serving individuals living in poverty. The parish is the building in which the Redemptorists have served the longest in North America. In 1860, John Neumann, a Redemptorist priest and the Fourth Bishop of Philadelphia, was buried under the church’s high altar. In 1977, Pope Paul VI beatified Neumann, and the lower area of the church was converted to a shrine. Today the shrine provides opportunities for tours, pilgrimages, retreats, and cultural events. The church has continuously served as a home for immigrants, including Puerto Rican, Filipino, Vietnamese, Italian, and Haitian communities.

In February 2024, three stained-glass windows from Austria were shattered during a series of acts of vandalism across churches and businesses in Philadelphia. These windows depicted the life of St. John Neumann and his service to the immigrant community in Philadelphia. Due to the vandalism, the windows needed major repairs, and energy costs soared while the gaps were boarded up.

An Intervention Fund grant of $25,000 awarded in 2024 helped the shrine repair the windows, add laminated safety glass, and fundraise an additional $16,000 to complete the project. With the additional funding, the stained-glass studio was also able to replace or add exterior protective storm glazing to all eight of the shrine’s windows, ensuring their long-term protection.

Photo by Jannine Malave