Parish History and Mission

St. Bernard’s History

In 1903, in the small town of Blackfoot, Idaho a group of young men were working to get a project off the ground. The Intermountain Catholic of Salt Lake City reported in its June 20, 1903 edition that a new church was scheduled soon for Blackfoot. In fact, the project had begun in 1902 when Father James Mooney, a priest from Idaho Falls who provided monthly Masses for the town, assisted by building committee consisting of Makus Blenkle, Frank Spanbuaer, George Hersted and William Montgomery Collected $1500 for a building fund. They raised $2400 more in 1903 and the church was begun on three lots donated by Mr. & Mrs. John Montgomery. Thus the history of St. Bernard’s and the won of Blackfoot began to intertwine.

By 1904 a beautiful white frame Catholic church existed across from the depot on the corner of Main and Francis streets, the result of tremendous sacrifice and effort on the part of the small congregation of 30 families. Father Mooney was transferred to Moscow early in 1903, and it was his successor, Father Martin Baerloeher, who saw to the completion of the church. But as Father Mooney is reported to have noted, “When people travel through Blackfoot on the train, they will see, at least, a sign of Christianity.” Cowboys with mayhem in mind, take note.

St. Bernard’s Missions

Just as the apostles sent by Jesus traveled to Neighboring communities to spread the good news of faith, so, too have the modern day missionaries ministered to Catholics in small towns near the home parish. Whether they thought themselves on a par with angels is doubtful, but the need was great, and they answered the call. Almost since its beginning parishioners from surrounding communities, Fort Hall, Pingree, and Shelley have involved themselves in parish life at St. Bernard’s. But the drives to Blackfoot for services were long and dangerous in the wither moths. The desire to have their own small chapels to worship within their own cultures and groups grew as the years went by.

BLESSED KATERI TEKAKWITHA CHAPEL – FORT HALL, IDAHO

In 1976 under the leadership of Father James Hallissey, Kateri Tekakwitha, the mission at Fort Hall, became the first of three such ventures. Instrumental in this effort were Elvena Kunz, Tita Hernandes and others .

ST. JOHN’S CHAPEL – PINGREE, IDAHO

Many people foresaw the need for a church at Pingree with its large Italian and Hispanic population.

The subject of a mission church for Pingree first arose at a catechists’ meeting at St. Bernard’s in January 1980. Soon, five acres of land on Sheeptrail Road was donated by the Dan and Mel DeGuilio family; dozens of families were involved from the start; the Webb, Wasia, Judge, Slayton, Dalton, Rossi, Droghei, Finicle families all worked steadily to build their church. In two weeks a building committee was formed, plans were considered, and fundraising was underway in another two weeks. By March 15, plans were ready and log construction was decided upon. In another month the decision to proceed was made by all parties, and the group voted to name the little church St. john’s in honor of John Degiulio, who had settled in Pingree in 1920 when there was nothing by sagebrush as far as the eye could see. In May the title to the ground was signed over to the diocese in the presence of Bishop Treinen, Father Xavier, the Daltons and Leo Behrend. Because farmwork took precedence for most of the summer, ground breaking was forestalled until August 15, 1980. Work continued through the fall and bitterly cold winter, with Pingree men and women doing most of the work themselves. Finally the first Mass was held on Easter Sunday April 19, 1981 and the church was dedicated on May 13, 1981.

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE – SHELLEY, IDAHO

Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission began in 1980 when a group of six families began to meet in private homes for Mass. Eventually, this group expanded and the small parish rented the Methodist church for services until about 1981. When a small church became available, it was purchased by the parish for $50,000 which was paid off in less than 10 years. At that time the parish purchased seven acres of land at a cost of $37,500 in hopes of building a new church to accommodate the growing population. During the nine years of its existence, the parish had grown from six to eighty-five families. Again rooms were rented from the Methodists to hold CCD classes, the small church was deemed too small to meet the needs of a growing Catholic Church. Hence, extraordinary sacrifices were made by the people to raise funds for a new building, and help from the Diocese was also solicited. A new, multi-purpose facility was constructed, and was dedicated by Bishop Tod D. Brown in 1993.

The parish, originated a mission of St. Bernard’s, was assigned to Holy Rosary Parish in Idaho Falls. Two Sunday masses, one in English and one in Spanish were soon desired by the two language groups that made up the parish, and a request for such was made to then Bishop Brown by Father William Carrol, administrator. Regrettably, Brown was unable to accommodate the needed due to the dwindling number of priests in the Diocese. He had indicated from the beginning that a resident priest was virtually impossible, but this was still a great disappointment for the little mission. A few years later, when the Priests’ Personnel Board reviewed the priest situation in Idaho, it was decided to close the Shelley mission entirely and encourage those parishioners to incorporate into the Idaho Falls parishes.