About Us

Mission

Committed to living out the endless love of the Trinity, we are a welcoming, faith-sharing Catholic family of believers, centered on the Holy Eucharist as the source of our life in Christ.

History

A heritage of faith shared by generations of Catholics in the Westmont area. Holy Trinity Parish had its humble origin in 1923 when the pastor of St. Joseph in Downers Grove, Reverend Eneas B. Goodwin, appealed to the Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Mundelein, to found a mission in Westmont. In Rev. Goodwin's letter to Cardinal Mundelein, he wrote "May I suggest a name for our chapel? To show that we are the Christian church, may we call it Holy Trinity Chapel? If I were building a church, I would like that name. However, it is for you to do the naming, and whatever name you may decide on will be satisfactory. But I would like your blessing on our work."

The first Mass was offered in Holy Trinity Mission Chapel, a "tar-papered" building located at 110 North Washington Street, on Christmas Day, 1923. For the next fifteen years, priests came from Downers Grove, aided by the Franciscan Fathers at Mayslake, to conduct services.

In the spring of 1938, Cardinal Mundelein appointed Reverend Ligouri Logsdon as the first resident pastor of Holy Trinity. The property, which is the site of the present church, was purchased. The Gregg House, built in 1872, was on the property and was renovated for a rectory, which served Holy Trinity for thirty-seven years -- first as a rectory and later as the convent for the school's sisters. On September 26, 1977, the house was moved to the Park District property on Linden Street where it serves as the Westmont Historical Society to this day.

In early 1939, plans began for the construction of a new church. With little money available and no wealthy donors, the idea of "buying a brick for the church" for 25 cents was adopted and each donor received a button pin that read, "I bought a brick for the church."

In the summer of 1940, a small colonial style church was started on the present day site of the church. Through a strenuous effort, the church was ready for services on Christmas day the same year. Through dedication, spirit, and generous contributions of labor, parishioners paid off the debt on the first real church within three years.

The colonial church was the only worship space in the parish until the addition of the basement church in 1958, located on the first floor of the present day school building. The colonial church was used continually until 1989 when the building was razed to prepare for the construction of the present church, which was dedicated December 5, 1992.

In 1949 the present Diocese of Joliet was formed and the first Bishop, the Most Reverend Martin D. McNamara, was installed. Bishop McNamara soon commissioned Reverend Thomas Dennehy to build an eight room school and rectory, and to convert the former rectory into a temporary convent. Groundbreaking for the new school took place on February 12, 1950, and the cornerstone was laid on Mother's Day that year.

The rectory was constructed shortly after the completion of the school building in 1952, and the Sisters of Christian Charity moved into the old rectory. On September 21, 1958 , ground broke for a "new" two-story convent building.

Through the pastorate of both Father William Koch and Father William O'Shea, consistent and successful efforts were made to build up Holy Trinity School and the educational programs at Holy Trinity Church.

Many parish organizations were established and flourished, and the parish grew in numbers of parishioners. In 1992, ll Father O'Shea saw to the construction of the present church, ' and mass was celebrated in the new church building for Christmas, 1992.

The following summer, it was determined that the present school needed to be renovated before a parish center could be built. The school underwent a major renovation. Completed in only thirteen weeks, the renovated school was dedicated on January 23, 1993.

In 2004, Holy Trinity's then pastor Reverend Father William DeSalvo, announced another major fund-raising campaign, the Heritage of Faith. Divided into 3 phases-- the unfinished basement of the church, the renovation of the original 1950 wing of the school, and construction of a Parish Center -- work began almost immediately. Phase 1, Holy Family Hall, was completed in December, 2005. Phase 2 , the Mother of Life Wing, which now houses the preschool, library, parish offices, and the Sacred Heart Chapel of Eucharistic Adoration, was dedicated and inaugurated on November 25, 2008. In addition, the convent building was razed to make way for Phase 3, the planned construction of the Parish Center.

Before this phase could begin, Holy Trinity Church received some much-needed renovations. On August 28, 2010, the Consecration of the Altar of Sacrifice, blessing, and dedication of the renovated church took place.

This brings us to the current time - - the still much-desired and much-needed Parish Center.

In March 2015, Reverend Michael Danek, C.R., announced the current Parish Center Capital Campaign to raise funds to build a Parish Center. We're very excited about the nearly endless benefits this important project will bring to Holy Trinity Parish. The Parish Center, once built, will offer Holy Trinity the ability to come together as a community for a wide variety of celebrations, achievements, and other events. The spiritual growth of the community lends itself to the need for social growth. With our existing parish buildings in great shape, we can look to the near future to build a Parish Center.

The Parish Center will be the social center of the parish and will expand our parish life to include many new program offerings. A new Parish Center will enable the entire parish to continue to thrive and grow to its fullest potential, where there will be Room for All.

Through the generosity of parishioners, we are well on our way to raising the significant dollars needed to build the long-awaited Parish Center. Thank you to all who have contributed to this effort so far. Your gift to Holy Trinity Catholic Parish is a response of love born from the gratitude for the many blessings God bestows on us each day.