Madonna del Castello was established as an Italian parish in 1920. The origin of the parish can be traced back to the arrival of Italian immigrants to Rankin, beginning in 1884. In 1903, an Italian priest began a mission in Rankin. However, soon afterwards he purchased a church in Braddock and established a parish there. The Italians in Rankin then traveled to Braddock to attend Mass. Over the years, the Italian population continued to grow and more Italians began moving from Rankin to Swissvale.
In 1920, a priest was sent to Rankin to organize a parish. The first Mass of the new parish was celebrated on April 5, 1920, in the McKinley Club Hall. The Hall served as a temporary church until a church could be built. However, there was a delay in the building of the church caused by the fact that part of the congregation lived in Rankin and part lived in Swissvale. In 1921, the bishop sent a committee to study the two possible sites. On July 16, 1921, the committee recommended that the church be built in Swissvale. Until this time, the parish was unnamed. Several names were proposed by parishioners and on September 7, 1921, the bishop approved the name of Madonna del Castello. Work on the church began shortly afterwards. The cornerstone of the church was laid on December 3, 1922, and the completed church was dedicated on August 5, 1923.
The church served the parish for forty years. Eventually, however, the congregation outgrew the existing building. On November 26, 1964, ground was broken for a new building that combined a church, administration building and classrooms. The cornerstone was laid on October 10, 1965, and the first Mass was celebrated on July 21, 1966. The church was formally dedicated on August 21, 1966.
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, Madonna del Castello 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 Madonna del Castello Parish merged with the parishes of Good Shepherd, Braddock; St. Maurice, Forest Hills; St. Coleman, Turtle Creek; St. John Fisher, Churchill; St. Jude the Apostle, Wilmerding and Word of God, Rankin/Swissvale to form the new St. Joseph the Worker Parish. As part of the merger Madonna del Castello Church remained open as part of the new parish.
