Welcome to Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, an historic church located in the midtown area of Kansas City, Missouri. We are a parish that is living out the legacy left to us by faithful Catholics of earlier years. With God’s help, we will also leave a legacy here for future generations.
In 1890, German Catholics who had moved to the midtown area of the city petitioned for a new parish. With Saints Peter and Paul parish growing larger and the new population locating in this area, the need was great for a new church. In the fall of that year, the first Masses was held in “Doherty’s Hall.”
From there, the parish bought land and built a church on the site of what is now Union Station. When the railroad wanted to build a new station on that site, they sold the land and moved the church, brick-by-brick, up the hill to their current location. They used the bricks to build a school and chapel until a new church could be built in 1922.In the 50th Anniversary book, published in 1940, we read, “Truly, its towers, rising majestically against the background of blue, proclaim the glory of Our Lady of Sorrows, and lead all minds and hearts ‘Onward! Upward! Heavenward!’“But – to those who have known and loved Our Lady of Sorrows over a long period of years, the church is more than a mere monument of brick and stone – and vastly greater in significance. To many, Our Lady of Sorrows has a far deeper meaning – symbolic of many years in which difficulties had to encountered, trials had to be met, sacrifices had to be made!”The anniversary book contained pictures of the building, but more importantly, photos of the priests and faithful people of the parish, reminding us that we are right now standing on the shoulders of those who had given themselves sacrificially for a church that they prayed would serve many generations of Catholics. That was their vision and it is now ours.In this sense, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, as the writer of Hebrews would describe it – Franciscan and diocesan pastors, German Catholics and other Catholics. The great cloud includes those who have, at some time in history, called Our Lady of Sorrows home. They are all standing with us for our future.We are living their legacy and, with God’s help, it is our turn to leave a legacy of Catholic faith for generations to come in our part of the city. We are called to continue being the presence of Christ and offering the sacraments.
