History Of Our Parish

In 1958, thirty families donated labor to turn a storefront on Main Street in North Manchester into the original "St. Robert Bellarmine Chapel." The Most Reverend Leo Aloysius Pursley, Bishop of the Diocese of Fort Wayne - South Bend offered the first Mass there on August 3, 1958. The community was a Mission of St. Bernard Parish in  Wabash, and its pastor, Rev. Robert Zahn. The presence of Manchester University in the community influenced the chapel’s naming for the Doctor of the Church, St. Robert Bellarmine, a great defender of the faith. Eventually, the community was established as a sui juris parish and Rev. Ray Balzer became its first resident pastor in August 1963. The parish community continued to grow, such that there was a need to build a church at a new site, where it stands today. This church building was dedicated to the service of the Divine Mysteries on April 25, 1965. Saint Robert Parish continues today to be a stable part of the North Manchester community.