With its French past and waves of Catholic immigrants in
the 19th and 20th centuries, from Ireland, Germany and Italy, St. Louis is a
major center of Roman Catholicism in the United States. St. Louis also boasts
the largest Ethical Culture Society in the United States. Several places of
worship in the city also are noteworthy, such as the Cathedral Basilica of St.
Louis, home of the world's largest mosaic installation.
Other locally notable churches include the Basilica of St.
Louis, King of France, the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral west of the
Mississippi River
