30 Guido Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Parish Office: (513) 721-6544 | parishoffice@hciparish.org
Cincinnati Archbishop John Purcell built the Church of the Immaculate Conception to fulfill a promise he made to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1843, Purcell was returning to Cincinnati from a European trip and his ship encountered a severe storm. Purcell asked Mary to save the ship and if she did, he would build her a votive offering on a prominent Cincinnati location. He kept his promise and Immaculata celebrated her first Mount Adams Mass on December 9, 1860.
The Passionist Order of Priests accepted an invitation from Archbishop Purcell to oversee Immaculata in 1871 and stayed for 125 years. They built Holy Cross Church and Monastery two blocks west of Immaculata for the Irish on Mount Adams. The Cincinnati Sisters of Charity taught at the two church affiliated schools. Holy Cross Church and Monastery closed in 1970 and the Passionists left Mount Adams in 1996. The parish was renamed Holy Cross Immaculata Parish, and the archdiocese again managed it.
Immaculata Church is home to the annual Good Friday Pilgrimage of the Steps which began in the 1870s. She also hosts the yearly stealing of Saint Patrick by the Ancient order of Hibernians, begun in 1971. The parish is involved in many outreach programs that benefit the Cincinnati community
Over the last 160 years, the character of the parish has gradually evolved from a family oriented community to a more mature congregation of professionals and empty nesters. She remains a gentle reminder of a promise kept.