Browse Items (254 total)

"When Saint Columbkille Parish was officially erected on May 24, 1997, the newly appointed pastor Father John R. Fogarty did not have to look for parishioners and buildings. The residents of West Hill welcomed Bishop John J. Hennessy’s decree…

“Saint Donatus Parish is the only parish in the United States named for this heavenly protector against storms. Soon after the Iowa Territory was opened to settlement in 1833, pioneers from Luxembourg in Europe took up residence on the fertile…

“The events of the new parish’s first year (1989) were: In April ten acres in Hiawatha were designated as the site. On July 11 Father Gossman was appointed the founding pastor. On August 19 the community was formed when they gathered for Mass in…

"Saint Francis Church is located in Barclay Township, Blackhawk County, near Waterloo. It began in 1862 with the decision to build a church on the Joseph Rittelmeier farm two and a half miles southeast of Dunkerton. Limestone for the building was…

"Before any Catholic church was built in Dumont, priests from neighboring parishes ministered to the Catholics of the area. Four Ackley pastors are especially remembered, Father Peter O’Dowd, D. H. Murphy, Lawrence H. Burns, and Michael A. Meagher.…

"Before the early settlers built their first church, Father James Harding from Cresco began to visit Ossian in 1858 and celebrated Mass in the railroad depot or the John Collins home. Before that it was not uncommon for the Catholic pioneers to walk…

"Saint Francis of Assisi Parish at Fayette began as a mission of Clermont in the 1870s. At that time Fayette County Catholics were visited by Father Eugene Sullivan, pastor of Clermont from 1876 to 1879. The Holy Name congregation at West Union was…

“In the fall of 1883 Father John W. Toohill became pastor and purchased a house to be used as a rectory. During his pastorate, Thomas Barry became the area’s first candidate for the priesthood. He was ordained Dec. 17, 1894, and served Iowa…

"As early as 1891 Father James Mulligan, pastor of West Union, visited the Hawkeye area Catholics and celebrated Mass in the home of Michael Riley, the railroad section foreman. In 1893 under Father Mulligan’s direction, they built a small frame…

"Foreseeing the need for a much larger church, Father Kortenkamp worked with his assistant, Father Joseph Brinkmann, to plan and construct the present Gothic style church with twin spires towering over 200 feet, until recent years the largest church…