The Mission of St. Mary Catholic Church is to worship, serve, and build communion in Jesus Christ, with Mary our Mother and guide.
We invite you to meet our priests and our Apostolic Leadership Council.
Letter from Our Pastor
Welcome to St. Mary’s, the Catholic church on the Capitol Square at 14th and K Streets in downtown Lincoln!
St. Mary’s has a rich history, beginning as the First Christian Church of Lincoln in 1888. Bishop Bonacum purchased the church on March 29, 1904 and a few years later, began modifications of the interior of the church so it could become the Cathedral of the Diocese of Lincoln. Unfortunately, the church caught fire on August 28, 1906 and was largely destroyed. Renovation began immediately, and the church was formally dedicated as the Cathedral of the Diocese on December 8, 1911. At the time, along with the original Pro-Cathedral, called St. Teresa’s, the Catholic population of the city of Lincoln was largely served by St. Mary’s Cathedral Church.
St. Mary’s can be considered the Mother Church of four Catholic communities in Lincoln which were erected by the subdivision of St. Mary’s territorial boundaries: Sacred Heart (1919), Blessed Sacrament (1921), St. Teresa’s (1925) and North American Martyrs (1994). On August 18, 1965, the Cathedral of the Risen Christ, located at 3500 Sheridan Boulevard, was formally dedicated as the new cathedral for the Diocese and replaced the cathedral status of St. Mary’s.
St. Mary’s Church is a gothic structure, with beautiful stained glass windows. The interior is warm, nurturing and spiritually healing. Please visit us, and let the church work its spiritual healing in your heart.
Over the years, St. Mary’s has become known as the downtown parish, with a daily confessional ministry (11am to noon, Monday through Friday) and Mass offered daily at 12:10pm. The parish offers confessions on Saturday at 11am to noon, 3pm to 4pm, and 6pm to 7pm. Weekend Masses for the convenience of parishioners and guests are offered at 4pm on Saturday, and at 8am, 10am, 12:30pm and 5pm on Sunday.
Thank you for visiting our website. We hope to see you and welcome you at St. Mary’s. God bless you!
Fr. Joseph Walsh
About Our Mission
Our Vision for worshiping Jesus Christ includes praying together as a parish, learning about our Faith, celebrating with wonderful music, and receiving our Sacraments within a beautiful church.
Our Vision for serving Jesus Christ includes many ministries that allow parishioners to serve our Lord and to serve the parish. It also means that we proactively serve one another to support and assist each other with the needs we may have. Finally, serving also entails having a community presence that is unique to the downtown Lincoln area.
Our Vision of building communion with Jesus Christ focuses on our communion with one another as people of faith. We strive to create a welcoming atmosphere and we make an effort to form bonds with one another as adults and among our youth by choosing to spend time with one another via parish events, as well as by creating opportunities to engage with each other outside of church. When we invite the Holy Spirit to be among us as a group of Catholics, we are strengthened in our faith and in our communion with Jesus Christ and with each other.
We actively seek the assistance and guidance of our Blessed Mother Mary as we endeavor to make her Son, Jesus, the center of our parish and of our lives. And all that we endeavor to do, we do it with the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit—in this way we aspire to holiness.
Meet Our Priests
Fr. Joseph Walsh
Head Pastor
Fr. Joseph Finn
In Residence / Pastoral Care for Nebraska Regional Center and Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital / Chaplain for Bryan LGH East
Fr. Thomas Walsh
In Residence / People City Mission
Meet Our Apostolic Leadership Council
We live our Mission by being proactive stewards of our parish. It is our Vision, then, to provide leadership and governance that effectively manages the activities of our parish. Our Apostolic Leadership Council meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 7 pm. The meetings are open to the public. We hope to see you there!
Fr. Walsh
Pastor
Melinda Pearson
Chair
Bernice Polivka
Treasurer
Ron Grose
Care of St. Mary Campus
Clarissa & Vishnu Reddi
Community Space
Brad Graham & Cathy Maestas Graham
Economics
Sue Kouma Johnson
Blessed Mother
Raquel Roberts
Build Communion
Liz Werner
Build Communion