From the desk of the pastor for March 1, 2026

The Lord be with you! Over the last few articles, we have been surveying the history of the Church in the United States. Since we now have a general idea of when our diocese was founded and its early years, it is a good idea to look at how St. Thomas More came to be.

As you can read on Mary Queen of Peace’s website, the first Mass in Brooklyn Township was held in a copper shop in 1873. From that very humble beginning came the Sacred Heart of Mary Mission. Enough Catholics moved to the area that the bishop elevated the mission to that of a parish with a school in 1894. Originally located on Broadview, Sacred Heart continued to grow but had a major setback when its church burned down in 1907. Two years later the parish erected a new church that was consecrated on the Feast of the Assumption. Work quickly began on yet another larger church that was completed in 1930 when the parish changed its name to Our Lady of Good Counsel. From Our Lady of Good Counsel, a number of parishes would be broken off, including St. Thomas More and St. Leo’s.

Brooklyn itself was originally part of Brooklyn Township, which was organized in 1818 when settlement west of the Cuyahoga River increased. This township grew fairly quickly such that a number of distinct villages grew out of it. The first was Brighton, which later became the Village of South Brooklyn in 1890. Eventually, South Brooklyn became Old Brooklyn by World War I. Our Brooklyn would start as Cleveland’s Brooklyn Village in 1927. Having grown significantly due to the housing boom following World War II, Brooklyn left the City of Cleveland in 1950.

As Notre Dame historian Dolan once noted, the most significant event for the Church in the United States in the Twentieth Century was not the Second Vatican Council: it was the GI Bill of Rights of 1944. This bill and the associated housing boom reshaped urban life throughout the United States as many flocked to the suburbs. Accordingly, on March 8, 1946, Bishop Edward Hoban established our parish. Msgr. Howard Smith was our first pastor, and our first Mass was celebrated at the Memphis Theater on April 7, 1946.

Two years later the parish constructed a multipurpose building that served as church, social hall, and school. Our grade school began on September 12, 1949, with 352 students and six Sisters of the Incarnate Word. The rectory would be built in 1954, and a convent for the sisters was constructed in 1961 that later became Issemann Place. That building is now the Friary for the Franciscans of Padua High School. Construction on our current church began in 1965 with its first mass being on June 11, 1967.

Knowing our history helps us realize how many contributed to our community. This passing on of life of grace is the tradition of our church. May we always share what we have been entrusted with so that others can know the goodness of God.

In His Sacred Heart,

Fr. John