Saint Catherine of Siena Mission

As early as 1920, Fr. C. E Francka of St. Wenceslaus, Karlin, celebrated Mass six to eight times a year in the homes of people from Humansville whose community was referred to as St. Jude Mission. In 1940 Fr. Ronald E O’Dwyer, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Osceola, MO, was made the pastor of this mission church with about 35 members who gathered regularly for worship in the L. T. Heaton Building. In the following year, with the help of Fr. Senan O’Connell, of Osceola, St. Jude Mission moved into a larger building across the street. On Jan. 20, 1946, Bishop Edwin V. O’Hara of Kansas City dedicated a new church at the present location. Composed of mainly German and Irish Catholics, it was renamed St. Catherine of Siena. When the new Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau was established on Aug. 24 1956, the mission at Humansville fell under the auspices of the Pastor of El Dorado Springs. Its care was transferred to the Pastor of Bolivar in 1984 and continues as such. Under the guidance of Fr. Gregory Zatina the church underwent extensive renovation. It counts 37 families in its membership at present.