After Hoorn had joined the Reformation in 1573 the Catholics of that town, the majority of the population, had lost their three churches to the protestants. In the course of the 17th century, several catholic hidden churches were founded in the town. In 1827 one of these hidden churches was replaced when the Catholics were permitted to use the former chapel of the St. Catharina convent as a church. It was renamed St. Cyriacus, like the medieval parish church, although it remained municipal property. A second church, a former hidden church which confusingly was also called St. Cyriacus, merged with the former in 1828. The third Catholic church was served by Franciscans and was called St. Franciscus or De Drie Tulpen ('The three tulips') and had been formed in 1755 out of three houses.In 1856 the two churches became parish churches, but in 1868 the two parishes merged. Both churches remained in use until 1877, but the St. Franciscus had been given a secondary status. In July of that year, the St. Cyriacus was damaged by fire. As the remaining St. Franciscus was much neglected it was time to build a new one. Incidentally, the destroyed chapel was soon rebuilt and served as a protestant church until 1968 and is now a theatre. The Catholics meanwhile had demolished the St. Franciscus to make space for the new church and built a temporary church nearby. Because the available space was limited, the location being on a major street between houses, the adjacent houses were bought, one of which was demolished while the one on the south side was transformed into a presbytery.