Holy Family Catholic Church, Birmingham, AL

The Passionists first came to Alabama in response to a special call from Pope Pius XI, who urged religious communities to serve the Black community in the United States.

Answering this call, Provincial Boniface Fielding, CP, with the support of Bishop Thomas J. Toolen of the Mobile-Birmingham Diocese, sent Fr. Cornelius McGraw, CP, to Birmingham in 1937 to seek out a place to establish a church and school. This marked the beginning of the Passionist presence in Alabama and the founding of Holy Family Parish.

In early 1938, Fr. Arnold Vetter, CP, rented an empty store and dance hall in Tuxedo Junction for just a dollar a year. That humble space quickly became a bustling center — serving as a church, rectory and school. By September of that year, thanks to Fr. Julius Busse, CP, and the help of four Felician Sisters from Chicago and a Trinitarian Sister, the first classroom opened its doors.

The ministry continued to grow. In 1939, Miss Rose Fitzgerald, a retired Army nurse, joined Fr. Arnold, CP, to open the Holy Family Dispensary, providing much-needed healthcare. By 1941, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth from Kentucky began staffing the clinic, and soon after, a temporary hospital was established.

The parish kept expanding to meet the community’s needs. A new church and rectory were built in 1941, followed by a high school staffed by the Sisters of Charity in 1943. After a devastating flood that same year, the community rallied to build a new elementary school, dedicated in 1945, which remains a point of pride in Birmingham. Growth continued with the construction of a 58-bed hospital in 1953, a new high school building in 1956 and a gym in 1975.

Since then, leadership within the community has flourished. Parishioners have become principals, permanent deacons, religious sisters, counselors and school board members — all contributing to the vitality of Holy Family Parish and its institutions.