Founding On May 3, 1905, Bishop
James Hartley appointed William McDermott to form a new parish in the area of
Old North Columbus, beginning at 11th Avenue and taking all portions of the city northward of that point up to
Worthington. Later that same month, McDermott purchased eighteen lots on East Patterson for $3500 including interest. Initially McDermott rented a house on the corner of
High Street and Patterson, where he lived during the building of the church and rectory, also renting a large room over a hardware store on High Street where he could say
Mass. The first of these Masses was on June 4, 1905, and during the sermon McDermott announced that Hartley had decided to name their parish and church after the
Holy Name of Jesus. The basement of the current church was finished by Christmas Day of 1921. This foundation was intended for a
Gothic church, the plans for which were later deemed too expensive. In June 1922 Fr. McDermott died and Msgr. John O'Neil, then
Vicar General of the Diocese, became pastor. O'Neil modified the design for the new church from Gothic to the current Byzantine-Romanesque design as drawn by architect Edward Ramsey, who lived in the parish and did all the design work for free. The church was dedicated on September 11, 1927, and was described as one of the most beautiful in the city of Columbus by Bishop Hartley in 1943 and by
Earl K. Fernandes in 2024. A thunderstorm in August 1953 resulted in a stone cross at the front of the church being struck by lightning and falling to a roof below, as well as major damage to a chimney at the rear of the church. The damage, estimated at $10,000, caused Masses to be said in the basement of the church for a time. In 1980, the parish began a five-year restoration plan for the church, undertaking major repairs to the roof and ornate ceiling of the building, as well as repairs to stained glass windows and replastering of walls. In June 1983, the church acquired a marble altar which previously had been in the chapel of
Mount Carmel West Hospital. The culmination of this work was celebrated in an 80th anniversary Mass celebrated by Bishop
James Griffin in September 1985. At the time of the move, the Spanish-speaking parish numbered around 600 people. The personal parish of Santa Cruz was united with the geographic parish of Holy Name on September 1, 2023, under the name Our Lady of Guadalupe, Star of the New Evangelization. The parish continues to be home to a large number of Latino Catholics. The geographic boundaries of the parish as of 2024 consist of Dodridge Street along with Findley and Arcadia Avenues to the north, the
CSX railroad tracks to the east, 11th Avenue to the south, and the
Olentangy River to the west.
Diocesan shrine Due to the beauty of the church, as well as the frequent offering of the
Sacrament of Penance and
Eucharistic adoration drawing pilgrims from across the city of Columbus, Bishop
Earl K. Fernandes established a diocesan shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Star of the New Evangelization at Holy Name Church on November 18, 2024. == Holy Name School ==