Welcome to the Lehigh Valley Landmarks with Leon podcast series, celebrating 250 years of independence. I'm your host, Rachel Leon. Since being elected in 2022 and serving as Vice President of Bethlehem City Council, I'm humbled by the opportunity to serve the diverse communities that make up our great city. But to understand where we're going, we need to understand our past. Each week, I'll share a short feature with a big story about the 250 years that made the Lehigh Valley and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, known as the Christmas City, as we explore historic landmarks.
Each hour, the resonant sound of the Holy Infancy Church’s bell rings out over South Bethlehem. However, it was not always this way. For over two decades, the bell tower at Holy Infancy was silent due to the structural disrepair that forced the bell out of commission. In 2022, however, members and friends of the church raised over $35,000 to repair the bell, “bring[ing] the sound back to South Bethlehem,” as described by Holy Infancy’s business manager, Joe McCarthy.
The bell was restored in 2022, but it began ringing over the Southside long before then. The Holy Infancy Church is the oldest Roman Catholic Church in Bethlehem. Founded in 1861, Holy Infancy was established as a territorial “mother church,” open to all nationalities of Catholics in South Bethlehem. The congregation was started by Saint John Newman, bishop of Philadelphia, and Reverend Michael McEnroe was appointed pastor in 1862.
The construction of the church began in 1863, at the corner of what was, at the time, 4th and Locust Street, on land donated by the Moravians. At the time of its original construction, the church measured 40 feet by 80 feet.
In 1867, the church’s grounds expanded with the addition of a 2.5 acre plot on South Mountain. The land, donated by Asa Packer, was used to establish Saint Michael’s Cemetery. The cemetery was the resting place of many immigrants who came to work at the Bethlehem’s steel mill, including James Griffin, an Irishman whose internment was the first at Saint Michael’s.
In 1877, Reverend Phillip McEnroe became pastor, following in his brother’s footsteps. The new Father McEnroe decided that the congregation was in need of a bigger church. In 1882, a new church was designed by architect Edwin Forest Durang. Measuring 67 by 147 feet, its Gothic Revival style featured a 196 foot tall spire, which was later lowered and modified during World War II. The new Holy Infancy Church was created for Southside residents by Southside residents. James Wohlback, head of construction, John Steward Allam, head of carpentry, and Ritter and Beck, heads of millwork, were all from South Bethlehem. The paintings behind the altar were completed by two Italian artists from the Accademia di San Luca in Rome.
The second Holy Infancy Church was completed in 1886.
Today, Holy Infancy Church sits in its original location on the corner of Taylor and East 4th Street. Each Sunday, Holy Infancy hosts two masses in English, one in Spanish, and one in Portuguese. It also is the parish associated with Holy Infancy School, a Catholic school providing education from Kindergarten through 8th grade since 1894.
It is easy to see why Holy Infancy Church’s bell has been described as the “sound of South Bethlehem”—the church is a symbol of the rich history and continuing legacy of the Southside’s Catholic culture.
Information for this episode was provided by Mark Iampietro's Exploring Bethlehem series, The South Bethlehem Historical Society, the Holy Infancy Church, and a radio episode on WFMZ by Joe Ducey, titled, "After more than 20 years, the church bell ringing once again in Bethlehem.”
We want to give a special thanks to Jordan Knox, an undergraduate student studying English and Environmental Studies at Lehigh University for her writing contribution for this episode.
