St. Mary's Church, New Haven

Saint Mary’s Church in New Haven is a historic Roman Catholic church and one of the spiritual cornerstones of the city. Located on Hillhouse Avenue near Yale University, the church is part of the Archdiocese of Hartford and currently serves as the central church of the city-wide Blessed Michael McGivney Parish.

Founded originally in 1832 as Christ Church Parish, it holds the distinction of being the first Catholic parish in New Haven and the second oldest in Connecticut. In 1848, the parish was renamed Saint Mary Parish, and the present church building was dedicated in 1874.

Saint Mary’s is perhaps best known as the birthplace of the Knights of Columbus, the global Catholic fraternal organization founded in 1882 by Father Michael J. McGivney, then an assistant pastor at the parish. Father McGivney’s legacy remains central to the church, and his remains are interred within it. He was beatified by Pope Francis in 2020, and the merged city-wide parish was named in his honor in 2023.

For 135 years, from 1886 to 2021, Saint Mary’s was operated by the Dominican Order, marking a long era of service and tradition. In 2021, the Archdiocese reassigned diocesan priests to the parish as part of a broader restructuring. On July 1, 2023, all Catholic parishes within New Haven were merged under the newly formed Blessed Michael McGivney Parish.

While Saint Bernadette Church, though located within city limits, is part of a different parish (Saint Pio of Pietrelcina Parish in East Haven), and a separate Eastern Catholic parish—Saint Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church—also exists in New Haven under the Ukrainian Eparchy of Stamford.

Today, Saint Mary’s stands not only as an architectural landmark and a center of Catholic faith in the city but also as a living tribute to Blessed Michael McGivney and the enduring history of Catholicism in Connecticut.