[3] In 1883 a Black Catholic mission parish named after St. Benedict the Moor was established, based on a $5,000 bequest by Fr Thomas Farrell to serve the African-American community in Lower Manhattan; his will and testament specified that if the Catholic Church was unable to spend funds for this purpose, it would instead go to the Protestant Colored Orphan Asylum.

[2] In 1892, the parish took over the former Third Universalist Church at 210 Bleecker Street, at a time when many African Americans lived in southern Manhattan.

[9] Fr Augustus Tolton, the first openly-Black Catholic priest in the United States, celebrated his first Mass in America at this parish in 1886.

Roman Relations with: After 1953, the church was staffed by Spanish friars of the Third Order of Saint Francis and was rededicated in 1954.

Although recommended for closure during an initial review, the Archdiocese announced on January 19, 2007, that the church would retain its parish status.