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The catholic church of Fernandina Beach was founded in 1784. Services were said to have taken place in the area of Old Town Fernandina. A small Mission church is believed to have been constructed in 1844. The Rev. Thomas Hassett and other visitant priests traveled between Savannah, Fernandina, St. Augustine to administer to the needs of the catholic community.
Due to the construction of the railroad by David Yulee, the town was relocated away from the river to its present site. By 1859, a wooden church was built in the same area as our current church. It was presided over by several visitant priests.
Our first paster, Fr. Carolus Sartorio died after one year of service. The second pastor. Fr. Johannes Bertazzi erected the current church in 1872. Both priests are buried on church property.
A one-story school was erected in 1882. Then, a second floor was added in 1899. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Le Puy, France arrived in 1871 by way of St. Augustine, to ready the children of the parish, including the children of newly freed slaves, for their first Holy Communion. The Sisters remained in residence until 1971 when the school closed. The school has since reopened and is successfully teaching Pre-K through 8th grade.
A parish hall was erected circa 1890-1900. It was repaired and built several times before being replaced in 2013.
Since the British occupation of 1763-1783, there have been 25 pastors and over 50 visitant and resident priests serving the needs of the parish.
On January 1, 2011, Bishop Victor Galeone installed Fr. Jose Kallukalam who is our current pastor.