St. Pius X Catholic Church

Description

The History of St. Pius X Parish would not be complete without going back to the first Franciscan Fathers who organized and served the first Missions in 1720, or the families from the Canary Islands who established San Fernando Church in 1731. As people moved from the center of the city, new parishes were formed. St. Patrick's Parish was established in 1895 to serve the people in the northeastern section of the city. In 1923, Bishop Arthur J. Drossaerts named the first pastor of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles Parish, which was taken from an eastern area of St. Patrick's. As the northern area of St. Peter's began to develop, Archbishop Robert E. Lucey commissioned Msgr. James M. Boyle, pastor of St. Peter's, to acquire property and begin plans for a new parish, which would become St. Pius X. Msgr. Boyle and a group of laymen from the new area met on a regular basis to make plans for the new parish. St. Pius X was formed on July 7, 1957, with Fr. Roy Rihn as its first pastor, Fr. Edward Bily as the assistant pastor and 315 families. The church and rectory were dedicated on July 14, 1957.