Divine Mercy Parish in Massillon consists of three communities that are among the oldest in the diocese—St. Barbara, St. Joseph and St. Mary, which was the first parish established in Massillon. Early Catholic settlers in the area typically traveled to Canton to worship at St. John, but by the late 1830s there were enough Catholics in Massillon to warrant the creation of a parish. On March 11, 1839, a one-acre lot was purchased. Mass was celebrated in the homes of parishioners—mostly Germans and Irish—until a church was completed on August 22, 1847. Two years later, the parish opened a school in the basement. The community started building a new church in 1876, and it was completed on August 12, 1892. It received several restorations over the decades and was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1979. The school became part of the Stark County Catholic School System. St. Mary also houses a National Shrine to Saint Dymphna, patron saint of those suffering from mental illness.
In the mid-1850s, Massillon’s English-speaking Catholics requested a parish of their own. It was formally established in 1854 with a dedication to Saint Joseph, but the community functioned as a mission of St. Mary’s until receiving a resident pastor in 1863. The parish also founded a school staffed by Sisters of St. Joseph, Benedictine Sisters and Dominican Sisters. They built a Gothic-style church, which was dedicated on April 1, 1894, with the former church converted into a larger school, then staffed by the Holy Humility of Mary Sisters. The parish school was closed in 1985. St. Joseph Church was placed on the National Register of Historic places in 2010.
The St. Barbara community originated in West Brookfield (later incorporated into Massillon) in 1866, when 33 Catholic families—largely German coal miners—were granted their request for a parish. Their first project was the founding of a school, which opened that same year. A church building was dedicated on December 19, 1867. Both the school and church received numerous expansions over the years, with a new church building completed in 1952. The school was closed in 2022.
The three parishes began sharing a pastor before being formally merged into Divine Mercy Parish in 2023. The name reflects the emphasis the parishioners place on God’s mercy and love, taught by both Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Francis.
Description from The March of the Eucharist, 2nd edition (2025) published by The Catholic Echo
