Name of Church St. Mary’s Parish
Address 618 E. First Street, Moscow ID 83843
Phone number (208) 882-4813
Website www.stmarysparishmoscow.com
Mass times Saturday vigil, 5 pm. Sundays, 8 am, 11:30 am.
Confessions Saturdays, 8:45 am. Tuesdays, 4:30 pm. Also by appointment.
Names of priests Father Benjamin Onyemachi, pastor. Father Anthony Ujagbo, parochial vicar. Father Celestine Agwu, guest priest. The priests are Nigerian, members of the Congregation of Sons of Mary Mother of Mercy (SMMM). The pastor served at other parishes in the diocese before becoming pastor of St. Mary’s in 2023. Boise Bishop Peter Christenson welcomed the community after reaching out to bishops with vocations in countries throughout the world; Boise has struggled with a dearth of vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Faithful priests, pious.
Special groups St. Zelie Martin Moms’ Group, youth group, Prayer Shawl Ministry, Knights of Columbus, Catholic Women’s League, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Respect Life Committee.
Music Cantors, choirs, and instruments.
School Yes, pre-K through 8th grade. Ursuline Sisters first came to Moscow in 1908 to establish the Ursuline Academy, the forerunner to St. Mary’s School.
Fellow parishioners This is an English-speaking community in the northern part of the state of Idaho and serves about 600 parishioners.
Parking There is a lot in the front and side of the church.
Additional observations St. Mary is a parish of the Diocese of Boise, which is the entire state of Idaho. Its priests also serve a church in Genesee. Catholicism first came to Moscow in the 1870s; its first church was built in 1887. The current St. Mary’s church was dedicated in 1930. It is a beautiful old church building in a quaint, tree-lined neighborhood. It has traditional architecture, stained-glass windows and a traditional choir loft. Upon coming to St. Mary’s, Father Onyemachi successfully led an effort to return the tabernacle to the center of the church in 2024 (it had been moved about 25 feet to the side in the 1960s).
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St. Mary’s church was dedicated in 1930.
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I was thinking of moving to Idaho, but since they don’t have any vocations there, I’m scratching the state off my list. May be nice as a state, but if the Catholic culture is sagging and in decline, it’s not a long-term prospect for a Catholic. I don’t want to go to Mass in an empty church or have to drive thirty miles to a church. The future does not look bright there.
Idaho has been a state dominated by many Mormons. But it sounds like an excellent place for good Christian families, of different religious beliefs. The SSPX has a strong Catholic community and parish school, in Post Falls– with booming priestly vocations. The FSSP also has a very strong parish, St. Joan of Arc, in Post Falls, under the Diocese of Boise. Great place for young, traditional Catholic families!
There is just one Catholic diocese in Idaho, the Diocese of Boise– covering the entire state, with 200,000 Catholics. Over half of their Catholics are Hispanics. For Catholics desiring to move to Idaho, it night be a good idea to contact the Diocese and get some information on good Catholic parishes.
Moscow, Idaho is increasingly on my list of towns I want to visit.
“Well done” to these good folks, both lay and clergy.
Wonderful that these priests are good Catholic clerics, and desired to return the holy Tabernacle to its rightful place— at the center of the church, probably on the High Altar or close by. I cannot stand how the Vatican dealt with Vatican II changes that they implemented– either forced, or suggested, or allowed in our churches. Christ in the Blessed Sacrament belongs at the very center of our Catholic worship.
Wyoming seems like a good state for conservatives and Catholics. Anyone know? Montana?
Is there a list of the top ten states for conservatives and Catholics to live in?
I don’t know of a list, but we’d be on it.
Catholics I know in Idaho would say the same.
Are they living in their own private Idaho?