About Us

A Message From Father Richmond

Welcome to St. John XXIII Catholic Church

Thank you for your interest in our thriving parish! St. John XXIII is a vibrant church filled with the Holy Spirit. Our parishioners are actively involved and invested in making our faith community a welcoming place of prayer, worship, study and service. We encourage you to learn more about St. John XXIII, its history and our Christ-centered mission!

MEET OUR STAFF

St. John XXIII

John XXIII Parish came into existence on September 3, 2000, the same date as the 

beatification of Blessed Pope John XXIII. The need for a new parish to serve the needs of the growing Catholic population on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids (particularly in St. Jude Parish) and in the southwest area of Linn County led to the creation of John XXIII Parish. On Sunday, Sept. 3, 2000, Archbishop Jerome Hanus celebrated with a small group of parishioners at Taft Middle School for the first Mass in the new parish. The parish used Taft Middle School for over three years as plans were made to build an adequate facility on the new parish property on 80th Street SW.


A multi-purpose center–consisting of a church, parish center, kitchen and offices–were designed by Novak Design Group and built by Kleiman Construction Company. Several sacred items were installed at John XXIII that came originally from Holy Trinity Church in Walford, including the tabernacle, the crucifix above the altar and the Stations of the Cross. The pews came from St. Pius X Church in Cedar Rapids which was being remodeled at the time. The altar, ambo and stands for the baptismal font and tabernacle were donated by the closed St. Patrick church at Dumont. Archbishop Hanus blessed our new church on February 1, 2004. In 2010, John XXIII Parish merged with St. Patrick's in Fairfax to form Blessed John XXIII Parish.


With this merger, the former John XXIII church building was converted to Blessed John XXIII Parish and St. Patrick, Fairfax was changed to an oratory status. Shortly    after, in July 2013 the parish name changed to the current St. John XXIII Parish when Pope John XXIII was canonized by Pope Francis. 


Thank you for visiting our site. We invite you to join our parish.

St. Patrick

The history of St. Patrick parish in Fairfax begins in the late 1850’s. As the first Catholic families settled in the Fairfax community, they traveled to the nearest church which was in Iowa City. Later Mass was celebrated in Fairfax homes by the priest stationed at Norway, Iowa. In 1875, the first St. Patrick church was built in Fairfax. Shortly after its completion, Fairfax received its first resident pastor, Fr. Edward O’Farrell. Construction on the present Gothic church was begun in 1911 and the corner stone was laid in June 1912. In 1916 the parish school was built. The Sisters of Mercy from Cedar Rapids ran the school teaching grade school and high school. The St. Patrick School eventually closed and St. Patrick became part of the Cedar Rapids Catholic school system. 

Holy Trinity Catholic Church Community

Holy Trinity Catholic Church Community in Walford, Iowa began gathering in 1890. The original parish consisted of 30 Czech families. The original frame church was built in 1890 in Johnson County near Chastek’s cemetery, which is on the Swisher road. In 1902 a new church was built in Walford, using salvaged lumber from the old church. The church exterior was built of native brick and stone. In 1936 an addition was built making the church about twice its former size. The church was completely redecorated in 1953. On July 9, 1972, ground was broken for construction of a new church and parish center. It was a single level brick structure, built in the shape of a cross. A number of items were brought from the old church, including the stained glass windows, the 1902 cornerstone, the 1891 bell and a gold leaf cross from the 1902 church. The former Holy Trinity builidng still stands in Walford and is currently a church.


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