Mary, Mother of the
Church is a thriving, active Catholic parish located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in
the United States.
We are over 3000 people coming together to engage in worship, education,
service, and social programs. With over 1000 registered households, we are the
largest Catholic parish in the city of La Crosse.
We welcome you! Whatever your
background, wherever you're coming from, you will find welcome here.
Our parish mission statement is this:
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Mary, Mother of the Church parishioners are called to be the People of God, formed by the Holy Word and nourished by the Holy Eucharist. We joyfully share our faith and gifts of time, talent, and treasure. We are committed to serve all God's people in the building of the Kingdom. |
Our place of worship
You can learn more about symbolic windows in our church, or view a satellite photo of the campus.
Our story
The parish of St. Thomas More branched from Holy Trinity parish in 1946 in response to tremendous post-war growth on the south side of La Crosse. The first pastor was Fr. Joseph M. Wagner. Construction began with St. Thomas More School, which opened in September 1948. The building where we worship today, dedicated in 1961 as St. Thomas More Church, continues to carry that name.
St. Pius X parish branched from St. Thomas More parish in June 1960; the first pastor was Fr. Francis McCaffrey. Initially the parish worshipped in the Christ the King Chapel at the Diocesan Center. St. Pius X School, at the intersection of Mormon Coulee Road and Broadview Place, was dedicated in May 1962, and the parish began to worship on the lower level of that building. After the Diocesan Seminary closed, St. Pius X parishioners voted in 1973 to sell the Mormon Coulee building and move the school into one wing of the La Crosse Diocesan Center.
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Mary, Mother of the Church Parish was formed in 2000 with the reunification of St. Thomas More and St. Pius X. Recalling the first Catholic church built in La Crosse—St. Mary's, or more formally, The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary—Bishop Raymond Burke declared that La Crosse should once again include a parish named in devotion to Mary.
MMOC observed a Jubilee Year in 2007 with the theme of "Rest, Repair, Rejoice." |
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Thanks to Fr. Doug Robertson for information used in this page. Further information about the history of Catholicism in the La Crosse area is available at La Crosse History Unbound, a project of the La Crosse Public Library and UWL's Murphy Library.
Please contact the
webmaster
when anything on this page needs to be corrected or updated.
Updated 17 June 2008
