BRIEF HISTORY OF 3 PARISHES
St. Catherine of Siena Parish
St. Catherine of Siena Parish was established on June 28, 2017 by Bishop Douglas Crosby, as the union of two parishes. These were Corpus Christi Parish and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish.
This is the newest Roman Catholic Parish in the Diocese of Hamilton. The name was selected with reference to St. Catherine as a bridge builder between communities. Fr. Mark Gatto was assigned as first Pastor along with Fr. David Reitzel as Associate Pastor.
The new church is on the south corner of Rymal Road and Sherman Road. It is the main Catholic Church serving the Catholic community south of Lincoln Alexander Expressway on Hamilton Mountain.
While the new church was being built, two previous parishes (Corpus Christi and Our Lady of Lourdes) continued as Sites for the parish. A Building Committee was created in November 2017 with Deacon Tom Vert as Chair. Achim Klaas of Klaas Design was hired as Liturgical Consultant and Micheal Biljetina of ATA Architects Inc. was selected as Architect. Plans and Designs for the new church building were done.
When construction was finished, the two previous sites were closed.
Below are two videos showing an interior and external view of the new church.
Our Lady of Lourdes Parish
Established 1958. Founding Pastor: Fr. Clifford Day. 1958 was centennial of the apparitions at Lourdes, so Our Lady of Lourdes was chosen as name and patroness of the parish. Church building blessed by Bishop Joseph Ryan on May 24, 1959.
Pastors who served the Parish: Fr. Clifford Day, Fr. John Murphy, Fr. William Nolan, Fr. John Jordan, Fr. John Walsh, Fr. Donald Brennan OMI, Fr. Robert Dunn, Fr. Stephen Csiszar, Fr. Daniel Miehm, Fr. Bob Walz, Fr. Michael King, Fr. Donald Wilhelm
Parish Schools: Our Lady of Lourdes School, St. Cecilia School (now closed), St. Teresa School, St John de Brebeuf High School.
Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto: blessed and dedicated May 22, 1983.
Knights of Columbus, Council 12453: formed in 1999. (now officially the St. Catherine of Siena Council)
Catholic Women’s League. established September 23, 1958.
Corpus Christi Parish
Established 1962. Founding Pastor: Fr. John H. Lawless. Initially met at former Barton Community Centre on Upper James. Building was constructed to be “parish hall”. First Mass was celebrated here on March 3, 1963. This “hall” continued to serve as the church as no church building was constructed.
