History of St. Pius X Parish
The few Catholics registered among the early settlers of Mount Pleasant attended Mass and were numbered with the parish of the Blessed Sacrament in Greensburg until 1878 when St. John the Baptist Parish was established in Scottdale. The Catholic population of Mount Pleasant swelled in the 1880’s as the developing coal and coke industry caused a rapid influx of European laborers to work the mines and ovens.
In 1883, a mission on Summit Street was established by Father Michael Lambing of St. John the Baptist Parish.
In 1886, St. Joseph Parish was established with Father Peter May, pastor. In November 1887, the rectory and new brick church building were dedicated.
Although the Italian members formed their own parish, St. Bernardine Church, in 1906, they continued to depend on St. Joseph School for the education of some of their children.
In 1915, St. Bernardine Church was destroyed by fire. It was quickly rebuilt and rededicated November, 21, 1915.
During the early planning stages, the Diocese of Greensburg began examining the parish structure in Mount Pleasant, recommending a consolidated school for the parishes of St. Joseph and St. Bernardine. In June of 1963, the two parishes were given a pastor and associate. Construction of a new school began at once and later opened April 9, 1965.
On July 1, 1972, the nine-year-old jointure of St. Joseph and St. Bernardine parishes became a merger known as St. Pius X, uniting under one name the oldest and youngest Catholic parishes in Mount Pleasant.
In 1977, St. Joseph Church was condemned and razed a year later to provide space for a new church. In 1979, a new church was dedicated as St. Pius X Parish.
In the fall of 2002, the third Catholic church in the borough of Mount Pleasant, Transfiguration Church, was condemned due to structural problems. In the following year, the parish was closed and a number of parishioners chose to become members of St. Pius X Church. At that time, the painting of Our Lady of Czestochowa was brought from Transfiguration Church to St. Pius X Church and was placed in the parish’s chapel.
In 2008, Father Richard J. Kosisko assumed the responsibility of pastor of St. Pius X Parish and administrator of Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish.