Flanking the east side of Independence Square is Immaculate Conception Co-Cathedral. The cathedral is a testament to the endurance of Catholics on the island. When the French arrived in the early 17th century, Jesuits constructed Notre Dame church. In 1713, after France ceded Saint Kitts to the British in the Treaty of Utrecht, the English were quick to outlaw Catholicism. Worship went underground until 1829 when religious tolerance improved. The first Catholic church of this era was constructed in 1856. This replacement opened in 1928. Immaculate Conception is a co-cathedral of the Diocese of Saint John’s–Basseterre. St. John’s is in Antigua.
