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Parish History
The All Saints Catholic Parish
is made up of three Catholic churches, a station and one school. St. Stanislaus,
Our Lady of Lourdes, St. James, Sacred Heart-Lapwai and All Saints Catholic
School. The All Saints Catholic Parish, comprised is a deeply committed faith
community that traces its roots back more than one hundred and forty years.
Established in 1867 by a Jesuit missionary, St. Stanislaus was constructed to
serve the earliest Catholics in Lewiston. In 1905, St. Stanislaus established
the first Catholic school in Lewiston, which was operated by the Sisters of St.
Joseph of Carondelet. Then, in 1947, Our Lady of Lourdes was created to serve
those who lived a fair distance from St. Stanislaus. Lastly, in 1970, in
consultation with Our Lady of Lourdes and the Diocese of Boise, a third parish,
St. James, was created based on pastoral necessity and grounded in the mission
Christian stewardship.
Today all three churches are vibrant and, together have approximately 1,200
registered households. Led by its pastor, Rev. Leslie Kish, and its parochial
vicar, Rev. Julio Vicente, the All Saints Catholic Parish maintains an array of
vital ministries. In total, the three churches celebrate six masses every
weekend with an additional Mass at our station Sacred Heart in Lapwai.
In 1997, in response to the completion of the vitality project, a state-wide
initiative to evaluate the best strategies for dealing with increasing numbers
of parishioners and fewer parish priests, the North Central Idaho Deanery
concluded that the three regional parishes in Lewiston should combine to form a
single parish. A Tri-Parish Council was then formed to explore and plan the
development of a central campus to better serve the Catholic community in
Lewiston. In 2002, a Site Selection Committee was established to begin the
process of selecting the land for the new campus.
Through the joint efforts of the various committees, combined with feedback
received from the public, Bishop Michael Driscoll selected the name of the
collective parish to be All Saints Catholic Parish. All Saints was elevated to
parish status on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009. |
