A Brief History
- 1852Fr. John Lynch, Pastor of Chester, ministered to Catholics in Clinton.
- 1887Clinton Catholics became part of the parish Church in Guilford.
- 1913Fr. Francis Murray, Pastor in Guilford, purchased our present land.
- 1914The first church was dedicated and given the title of St. Mary Church of the Visitation.
- 1934Clinton became its’ own parish with Fr. James Kane as the first pastor. Madison became our mission church.
- 1936St. Mary Cemetery on Beach Park Rd was acquired and consecrated.
- 1946St. Mary Church in Clinton and St. Margaret Church in Madison were made separate parishes. Fr. Charles O’Leary was appointed Pastor in Clinton.
- 1952Fr. Walter Keenan became Pastor of St. Mary Church.
- 1953Connecticut was divided into three dioceses. Clinton became part of the Norwich diocese under Bishop Flanagan.
- 1956Ground was broken for the new St. Mary Church.
- 1957The new St. Mary church was dedicated.
- 1980Fr. Dennis Jarry was appointed Pastor.
- 1988Fr. Michael Sequeira was appointed Pastor.
- 1991A new roof was put on the Church and the Sanctuary was renovated.
- 1992Improvements to the Church Hall were begun with the painting of the ceiling and replacement of the lighting.
- 1994New stained glass windows were installed in the church.
- 1995Annex was added to the Church Hall for offices. New stained glass window was installed in the apex.
- 1997Capital Campaign began for new Parish Center.
- 2000New Parish Center was dedicated.
- 2012Fr. Michael Giannitelli was appointed Pastor.
- 2016Fr. George Richards was appointed Parochial Vicar.
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.
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