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HISTORY
Between the years of
1933 – 1940 there were four known Catholic families living in or near
Leeds. Prior to this time there was a mission station at Henry Ellen
Mines, near Leeds. Upon formation of the North Alabama Mission Band
in 1933, street preaching was initiated on the streets of Leeds.
Catholics of the
area attended Holy Rosary Church, Gate City, where Mass was offered
bi-monthly. They went to St. Barnabas in East Lake, on alternate Sundays. In
1941, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Becker invited Father Giri to offer Mass in
their home. The living room was a chapel, the dining room buffet served as
an altar and confessions heard in another room. Sister Mary Alice taught
Catechism to the children under a pear tree in the back yard.
The congregation
grew in numbers and the men of the mission rented space on the second
floor of the Evans Department Store in downtown Leeds and converted it
into a chapel. The congregation selected the St. Theresa of the Child
Jesus as the patroness.
When Rev. Joseph
Adams became first resident pastor of Holy Infant of Prague, June 21,
1947, St. Theresa was attached as a mission. Norah Ann Katz was the
first infant to be Baptized in chapel, in March, 1950. James Dowling
and Betty Smith were the first couple married there.
Rev. James Gallagher
was appointed pastor of Holy Infant and missions in 1951. There were 30
Catholic families here at this time and due to new industries moving into
the area the congregation grew to number 60 families. The Extension
Society donated funds. A modern brick structure was erected at a
cost of $19,600 to seat 150 persons. Father Gallagher offered the first
Mass here on July 27, 1952. Bishop Toolen dedicated the church on February
15, 1953.
Further additions were a parish house, built in 1960, a church hall built
in 1987, and a bell tower completed in 1989.
In 2011, the church
completed an expansion campaign that increased the seating capacity by 80%,
remodeled the restrooms, and provided new carpeting, seating, painting, sound system,
heating and air systems, landscaping, and other needed improvements.
The present congregation has grown to over 270 families.
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PASTORS
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Rev. James Gallagher |
1950 - 1958 |
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Rev. Owen Connaughton |
1959 |
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Rev. Desmond Regan |
1959 - 1966 |
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Rev. Robert Bauler |
1966 - 1972 |
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Rev. Michael J. White |
1972 - 1974 |
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Rev. Robert Bauler |
1974 - 1982 |
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Rev. Peter MacCarthy |
1982 - 2000 |
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Rev. James Naughton |
2000 - present |
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18th Century Austrian Madonna
Statue donated by P. David Romei, located in the back of the church
facing the altar. |
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