The village of Cortland was officially named in 1873, the settlers began arriving in the area in the early 1800s. The first settlers were Protestant— Catholics came to Cortland much later, arriving in 1910. At the time, the closest parish was in Warren, which made it difficult for the Catholic community to attend Mass. The growth of the Catholic community was slow compared to many other areas in the Diocese of Youngstown— there were only 30 Catholic families by 1952, which was the year when the community petitioned Bishop Emmet Walsh for a priest. The request was approved, and St. Robert Bellarmine was established as mission of St. Stephen Parish in Niles. The first Mass in Cortland was celebrated on May 18, 1952, with more than 100 people in attendance.
The manager of the local theater generously allowed the community to use the property as a worship site until a permanent church could be built. The community purchased 30 acres of land to be the site for a new church building in 1954, and on May 13—the feast of Saint Robert Bellarmine— the foundation of the future church was poured. The entire community pitched in to help build the church, which was completed in 1955. St. Robert continued as a mission for over a decade, until it received its first resident pastor on June 12, 1966. By that point, the community had grown and the parish remodeled the structure and added a new sacristy and parish house.
Due to a now-increasing population, the the parish council decided to refurbish the structure in the 1980s, nearly doubling it in size. The project commenced on June 21, 1988, and in the interim, Masses were held at Lakeview High School. It was finished by the end of the year, and on January 15, 1989, Bishop Malone blessed the newly expanded church.
Saint Robert Bellarmine was a Jesuit priest who distinguished himself as a great defender of the Church during the Protestant Reformation. He was known not only for his intellectual critiques of the Protestant writings, but for his dedication to prayer, meditation, fasting and almsgiving. He was named a “Doctor of the Church,” a group of just 37 great saints who made extraordinary contributions to the theology or doctrine of the Catholic church.
Description from The March of the Eucharist, 2nd edition (2025) published by The Catholic Echo
