Holy Cross Parish (video) - 6/21/2014

Holy Cross Parish was established on May 28, 1994. It was established when St. Helen Church, established 1917, and St. William Church, established 1906, were merged together to form one parish for the community of East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the fall of 2013, it was announced that a lack of members and finances would result in the parish's closing on Sunday, April 27, 2014.

St. Helen Church, East Pittsburgh - 3/14/2014

St. Helen Church was originally founded in 1917 as a Slovak Parish in the neighborhood of East Pittsburgh.

The current church was built in 1929 while the original building was transformed into a social hall.

St. Helen merged with St. William Church to form Holy Cross Parish in 1994 when the declining community could no longer support two independent parishes.

St. Helen's bell was forged by the McShane Bell Foundry Co. in Baltimore Md. in 1932

In 2013, financial difficulties caused the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh to begin considering the future of the parish.

It was announced in February, 2014 that lack of finances would cause both churches to close by the end of the year.

Services will continue through the end of April, 2014 when the parish will be discontinued.