A Brief History
- 1852 Fr. John Lynch, Pastor of Chester, ministered to Catholics in Clinton.
- 1887 Clinton Catholics became part of the parish Church in Guilford.
- 1913 Fr. Francis Murray, Pastor in Guilford, purchased our present land.
- 1914 The first church was dedicated and given the title of St. Mary Church of the Visitation.
- 1934 Clinton became its’ own parish with Fr. James Kane as the first pastor. Madison became our mission church.
- 1936 St. Mary Cemetery on Beach Park Rd was acquired and consecrated.
- 1946 St. Mary Church in Clinton and St. Margaret Church in Madison were made separate parishes. Fr. Charles O’Leary was appointed Pastor in Clinton.
- 1952 Fr. Walter Keenan became Pastor of St. Mary Church.
- 1953 Connecticut was divided into three dioceses. Clinton became part of the Norwich diocese under Bishop Flanagan.
- 1956 Ground was broken for the new St. Mary Church.
- 1957 The new St. Mary church was dedicated.
- 1980 Fr. Dennis Jarry was appointed Pastor.
- 1988 Fr. Michael Sequeira was appointed Pastor.
- 1991 A new roof was put on the Church and the Sanctuary was renovated.
- 1992 Improvements to the Church Hall were begun with the painting of the ceiling and replacement of the lighting.
- 1994 New stained glass windows were installed in the church.
- 1995 Annex was added to the Church Hall for offices. New stained glass window was installed in the apex.
- 1997 Capital Campaign began for new Parish Center.
- 2000 New Parish Center was dedicated.
- 2012 Fr. Michael Giannitelli was appointed Pastor.
- 2016 Fr. George Richards was appointed Parochial Vicar.
- 2022 Fr. Daniel Long was appointed Pastor.
Your Support Matters
St. Mary's is a Stewardship Parish Community. As such we give freely of our time, talent and treasure toward the spreading of Gods' good news. We practice sacrificial giving by making God first in our decision making process and ourselves second. We first give back to the Lord a share of God's great gifts to us, then keep the remaining 90% for our own wants and needs.
Give Today