Holy Angels, Hays

Parish History

Holy Angels was established in 1903.  Before the parish was formed, the area was part of Holy Cross parish in the South Side, although some local Catholics chose to travel to St. Mary Magdalene for Mass.  In 1902, the pastor of Holy Cross held a meeting in Hays to make plans for a new parish.  The plans for the parish were submitted to the bishop who approved them.  On October 24, 1902, a house was purchased to serve as a rectory with sufficient land for the building of a church.  On January 11, 1903, the first Mass in the parish was celebrated in the rectory.  On April 9, 1903, the first pastor of the new parish was appointed.

That spring work began on the church.  The church was dedicated on October 25, 1903.  The church originally had a wooden foundation.  By 1918, the building was noticeably sinking.  The church was raised and the foundation was replaced and a hall constructed beneath the building.  The interior of the church was completely renovated in 1945, including the installation of a new altar.  Stained glass windows were added in 1947. 

In the late 1960's the parish considered building a new church.  After studying the pros and cons of a new church, the parish decided in 1970 against new construction.  Instead, the existing church was repaired and renovated.  Over the next few years, the church was completely renovated including replacement of the pews, enlarging the Sacristy and adding new stations of the cross.

With the turn of the century, trends in the Diocese of Pittsburgh began to reveal a decline in Mass attendance and sacramental participation.  At the same time, the number of priests available for parish ministry also began to decline.

To address these challenges, Bishop David Zubik announced on April 12, 2015 a new diocesan initiative, On Mission for The Church Alive!, a consultative strategic planning process designed to foster viable, sustainable and vibrant parishes.  As part of this process, the Bishop, in consultation with the faithful, began to consider new models of parish life based on pastoral needs, financial and temporal resources and available clergy.

In 2018, following the period of consultation, parishes were grouped together and served by a single clergy team to eventually form one new parish.

During this transition period, Holy Angels Parish remained an independent parish while sharing clergy and staff and eventually publishing a joint bulletin with the other parishes.   This ended on July 1, 2020 when Holy Angels Parish merged with the parishes of St. Sylvester, Brentwood and Holy Apostles, South Pittsburgh to form the new Blessed Trinity Parish.  As part of the merger Holy Angels Church remained open as part of the new parish.