Holy Redeemer Catholic Parish, Belize City

When the Holy Redeemer Catholic parish was founded in 1852 it was the only parish in Belize and from it missionaries covered the whole country. When other parishes were founded Holy Redeemer remained a parish with its own history but with its leadership connected to the Catholic church in all of Belize under titles of governance that evolved over the years from apostolic prefect to apostolic vicar to bishop. It has remained the hub of the diocese, the bishop's church, as well as a parish in its own right.

In the first half of the 19th century, merchants accounted for most of the Catholic presence in Belize Town – several Spaniards, the German Cramer brothers, the Portuguese Melhados, and the Frenchman Richards. But then during the War of the Castes in Yucatan in the 1840s, the Catholic population in northern Belize swelled to about 7,000. This occasioned action by the Jesuits in Jamaica who were over the Vicariate which included Belize. In 1851 Vicar Apostolic James Eustace Du Peyron established a Jesuit presence in Belize Town on the coastline of Central Belize, from which missionaries set out to establish parishes in the North and in all of Belize. (The priests and brothers listed below were all Jesuits except for Facundo Castillo.)

In 1852 Fr. Bertolio came to build the first Catholic church in Belize Town, for Holy Redeemer Parish. With him came a schoolmaster Henry Trumbach, whose mother would teach the girls. There were then about 250 Catholics in Belize Town. In 1853 Fr. George Avvaro was appointed the first Jesuit Superior in Belize, serving until 1872. As mission superior residing in Belize Town, he functioned also as pastor of Holy Redeemer parish. On July 17, 1856, fire swept through the north of town destroying the church and rectory. Land was obtained from Belize Estate and Produce Company (BEC) for building a rectory, school, and church. The church and school were of brick, the rectory of wood. The church building, dedicated in 1858, would be enlarged and restored over the next century and become the present Holy Redeemer Cathedral, home to both the parish and the bishop.

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