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Parish History
The design of the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle comes from the Byzantine period of the Eastern Roman Empire. The plan of the cathedral is based on, a Latin Cross. The principal sections focus on a circular sanctuary on a surface that is elevated seven steps above the main floor. A dome, which rises sixty-two feet above the sanctuary, is pierced with stained glass windows that cast light on the altar below. On the exterior of the cathedral, the dome is covered with gold colored aluminum. Rising twenty-five feet above the dome is a finial and cross, golden in hue, which reflects the rays of the sun. The building was dedicated as a parish church on June 2, 1963, during the pastorate of Monsignor James J. Meehan, under the administration of Archbishop Joseph P. Hurley, Sixth Bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine. It became a cathedral upon the installation of the First Bishop of St. Petersburg, Bishop Charles B. McLaughlin, June 17, 1968.

Sometimes cathedrals are made, not born. What is now the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle was founded in 1950 as St. Jude the Apostle Church, a parish of the Diocese of St. Augustine. When the Diocese of St. Petersburg was formed in 1968, founding Bishop Charles B. McLaughlin decided that the 1,500-seat capacity and location of St. Jude Church in St. Petersburg made it a good "mother church" for the diocese.

On June 17, 1950 Bishop McLaughlin was installed as the first bishop of St. Petersburg in a liturgy also establishing the Canonical Erection of the new diocese and St. Jude the Apostle Church as its cathedral. Bishop W. Thomas Larkin was installed there as the diocese's second bishop in 1979. Bishop John C. Favalora was installed as its third bishop in 1989, and Monsignor Robert N. Lynch was ordained as bishop and installed as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg Diocese on Jan. 26, 1996.

The bishop of a diocese is also pastor of its cathedral, which holds his chair, or cathedra. Therefore, Bishop Lynch is pastor of the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle, but the responsibilities of overseeing a five-county diocese make the daily management of a parish difficult. As rector of the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle, the Very Reverend Gregg J. Tottle oversees the pastoral responsibilities for the bishop.

St. Jude Parish was founded Dec. 12, 1950, with about 800 registered households. Father Paul Leo Manning, the founding pastor, offered the first Mass Feb. 11, 1951 in the garage of Admiral Farragut Academy at Ninth Avenue North and Park Street. What is now the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle was dedicated on June 2, 1963, and is now home to about 2,300 registered households.

Two months later, April 4, 1951, Father Manning broke ground for a church auditorium on 10 acres of land between Fifth and Seventh Avenues North, which had been purchased for $25,000. The new building was dedicated the following October, and in January 1952, the parishioners began a $100,000 fund-raising campaign for a school. Located several hundred feet north of the cathedral, St. Jude Cathedral School was opened Sept. 7, 1954, and has steadily grown to include an Early Childhood Center and a K-8th grade elementary school.

Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto was dedicated on the parish grounds in 1965, and the parish center, Oct. 28, 1982. The following year the parish administration building was built adjacent to the Cathedral Center. On Dec. 10, 1984 the first Mass was offered in Our Lady's Chapel, located on the east end of the Cathedral Center/administration building complex.

The cathedral became home to the largest pipe/electronic organ in Florida at the time it was installed. This $300,000 Rodgers/Ruffatti outfit has enabled the music department of the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle to host ongoing concerts.