St. Catherine of Siena is a Roman Catholic parish in Trumbull, Connecticut, part of the Diocese of Bridgeport.
History
Trumbull, Connecticut, where the parish is located, is today within the territory of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, which was established by Pope Pius XII in 1953, which comprises all of Fairfield County, in southwestern Connecticut. Prior to that, it was part of the Diocese of Hartford, established in 1843 by Pope Gregory XVI, which then comprised all of Connecticut. Earlier still, it had been part of the Diocese of Boston, established in 1808 by Pope Pius VII, whose territory at the time encompassed all of New England. And originally, when the Catholic Church was first being organized in the United States, Trumbull was part of the territory of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, established in 1789 by Pope Pius VI, which, as the first Catholic diocese in the United States, comprised, at the time, the entire territory of the young and growing nation.
On February 11, 1955, the Most Reverend Lawrence J. Shehan, the first Bishop of Bridgeport, canonically established a new Parish, to be located in the “Nichols” section of Trumbull, territory which until then had been part of the Parish of Saint Charles Borromeo in Bridgeport. Bishop Shehan appointed Father Edward D. Halloran to be the first Pastor of this new parish, which is thought to have been named for Saint Catherine of Siena in honor of Father Halloran's mother, Mrs. Catherine Halloran.
With the assistance of Father Thomas B. Gloster, Pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish, the Diocese of Bridgeport had purchased some 11 acres of land and two houses on Shelton Road in Trumbull. This was to be the site of a parish church and campus. While arrangements were being made for Sunday Masses to be offered within the Parish boundaries, Masses were offered for one month at the Thomas Hooker School in Bridgeport, beginning on February 20, 1955. Beginning on March 20, 1955, with the permission of the Trumbull School Board, Mass was offered at Nichols School for over three years.
As plans for the church progressed, Bishop Shehan arranged for the Most Reverend Fulton J. Sheen, the celebrated author, television personality, and host of the award-winning television show Life is Worth Living, to present a lecture on March 22, 1957, at the Shakespeare Festival Theater in Stratford, the proceeds of which benefitted the Church Building Fund for Saint Catherine of Siena Parish.
This lecture was so successful that Bishop Shehan and Father Halloran, in gratitude, designated the sanctuary of Saint Catherine of Siena Church as a gift of Bishop Sheen. Then an Auxiliary Bishop of New York and National Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, Bishop Sheen went on to serve as Bishop of Rochester, New York, and later as Titular Archbishop of Newport. He died on December 9, 1979, and is interred in the crypt of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. His cause for beatification and canonization has been introduced.
Ground was broken for a parish church in August 1957, the year which appears on the church's cornerstone. The church was designed in the Norman Gothic style by Architect J. Gerald Phelan. Its stained glass windows – depicting Apostles, Religious Founders, and the patron saints of the Catholic churches in the City of Bridgeport – were fashioned in Brussels, Belgium by the firm of J. Vosch.
The church was constructed by the E&F Construction Company of Bridgeport, and dedicated on September 21, 1958. The Mass was celebrated by Father Halloran, with Father John J. Bennett as Deacon and Father Daniel J. Foley as Subdeacon; the homilist was Father Joseph A. Heffernan. The Fairfield University Alumni Glee Club served as the choir for the Mass, and the organist was Father Thomas A. Murphy, S.J. Bishop Shehan was present in choro for the Mass.
Further expansion
As the years unfolded, the Parish of Saint Catherine of Siena grew and expanded. Recognizing the importance of handing on the gift of the Catholic Faith to new generations, by 1964 the parish had grown to the point that a school could be considered. Father Halloran secured a commitment from the School Sisters of Notre Dame to teach at the school – a service which continued until the retirement of the school's longest-serving Principal, Sister Anne Marie Dorff, S.S.N.D., who led the school from 1978 until 2009.