Our Parish History

Saint Leo the Great Catholic Church
Winston-Salem, NC

With roots going back to the late nineteenth century, Saint Leo the Great’s early parish history tells the tale of the small but faithful community of Catholics in the Winston-Salem area. After initially meeting in homes and a local meeting hall, the faithful were able to build a church in the 1890’s at the corner of Fourth Street and Brookstone Avenue under the leadership of the Benedictine monk Bishop Leo Haid. Bishop Haid had been named by Pope Leo XIII as his local representative and administrator of the newly formed Vicariate Apostolic of North Carolina (not a diocese because of the relatively low number of Catholics in the area). It should come as no surprise that under the leadership of these two great Leos, that the parish would seek the patronage of a third Leo: Pope Saint Leo the Great.

With the care of the Benedictine monks from Belmont Abbey, the parish grew quickly. By 1916 plans were underway to build a new church. With the aid of the Knights of Columbus, the leading families of the parish, and many of the local Protestants, construction began in 1927 with the cornerstone for the new church building laid on January 15, 1928. Worship began in the current church soon thereafter, despite it not being completed until 1929.