St Francis of Assisi Church, Handsworth
| St Francis of Assisi Church | |
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 St Francis of Assisi Church
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| Coordinates: 52°29′55″N 1°54′57″W / 52.498521°N 1.915880°W | |
| OS grid reference | SP0581388903 |
| Location | Lozells, Birmingham |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | St Mary's Church |
| Founded | 1840 |
| Dedication | St. Francis of Assisi |
| Consecrated | 21 June 1900 |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Active |
| Functional status | Parish church |
| Architect(s) | Canon Alexander Scoles |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Groundbreaking | May 1893 |
| Completed | 2 February 1894 |
| Construction cost | £9000 |
| Administration | |
| Deanery | Birmingham (Cathedral) |
| Archdiocese | Birmingham |
| Province | Birmingham |
| Clergy | |
| Archbishop | Most Rev. Bernard Longley |
| Priest(s) | Fr Gerard Kelly |
St Francis of Assisi Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Birmingham. While the church is located between the Lozells and Hockley parts of the city, the parish covers most of Handsworth. It was founded in 1840, originally as a chapel in the nearby listed building, St. Mary's Convent designed by Augustus Pugin.
In 1840, Nicholas Wiseman, as coadjutor bishop of Thomas Walsh, the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District, invited the Sisters of Mercy to Birmingham. The sisters set up a convent on a piece of land given to them by John Hardman of Hardman & Co. who lived opposite. He promised to bear all the expenses of creating a convent, and helped by an endowment of £2000 from the Earl of Shrewsbury he commissioned Augustus Pugin to design the building for them. The chapel of the convent, dedicated to Saint Mary served as the parish church until 1847.
In 1845, with the local Catholic population increasing, it was decided that a larger church would have to be built. So building work started on a separate church that was located next door to the convent. In July 1847, St Mary's Church was opened and consecrated by Bishop William Wareing. In 1882, a new priest, Fr Francis Hopkins joined the parish. He saw that the new church could not accommodate the increasingly numerous congregation, so he made it his priority to start the construction of a new church.
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