he closing of Holy Cross Regional Catholic School at the end of the academic year in 2020 marks the end of an era in Lynchburg. In an environment dominated by Protestant churches and culture, the Roman Catholic history of the Hill City is a unique testament to the presence of a world-wide faith community which traces its founding to the first century C.E. (or, in the old style, A.D. meaning Anno Domini or “in the year of our Lord”).
The presence of Roman Catholics in Lynchburg dates to the construction of the Kanawha Canal in the 1830s and the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad in the 1850s, which brought Irish workers together with enslaved Black laborers. Walk the Blackwater Creek Trail today to see an example of this labor, at the Hollins Mill Tunnel (1852).
The small number of Catholics who were in Lynchburg before the arrival of canal workers worshipped at home, since there were no churches. The first mass, celebrated by Father Cooper, is documented as being in the house of Mary Dornin in 1829. With the influx of young, single male Irish Catholics staying in the Hill City after construction projects ended, a permanent place of worship was soon on the horizon. According to Lynchburg historian James M. Elson:
Stained glass window donated by Mary Dornin at Holy Cross Catholic Church
Courtesy of Laura A. Macaluso, Ph.D.
A small brick church dedicated to Saint Francis of Xavier on the southwest side of Clay Street between Ninth and Tenth Streets was built in 1843 [where the Blue Ridge Regional Jail stands today] and served the parish until Holy Cross Catholic Church, two blocks away, was completed in 1878-1879.
Holy Cross Regional Catholic School has its origins in the construction of Holy Cross Catholic Church, and thus formal Catholic education predates public school education in the Hill City. Since the founding era of Roman Catholicism in Lynchburg, the faith community grew to include two Catholic churches, a cemetery, a school, and three charitable organizations: the Ladies of Charity, Knights of Columbus, and MORE Aid. In years past there were also two convents, two more Catholic schools, an African American Catholic Church, and a Catholic retreat.
With the loss of Holy Cross Regional Catholic School, a school for Catholic and non-Catholic students alike whose families value the atmosphere, close community, and morals of Catholic school education, Lynchburg and the surrounding counties may no longer have any Catholic primary, secondary or higher education facilities, a fate replicated in communities across the United States today. The practice of CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine or “Catechism”), which is akin to Sunday School for Protestants, means Catholic education continues for families whose children will now attend secular or other private, non-Catholic faith-based schools.
Catholic faith and the Catholic presence in Lynchburg will continue to play a role in the lives of many in the Hill City and beyond.
