Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church

Catholicism through the courtesy of St. Leo Abbey came to Inverness and Citrus County in 1893. A Mission Chapel was located on the present grounds of Inverness Primary School.

In 1947 Fr. James Hoge offered weekly Mass in the American Legion Hall in Inverness.

In 1948 Fr. McCarthy who succeeded Fr. Hoge celebrated Mass in the temporary Mess Hall Chapel of Good Counsel Camp in Floral City.

Fr. George Cummings was asked to find property for the building of the first Catholic Church in Inverness. He located property in Sportman's Park off Hwy 41 in Inverness.

In 1953 the property was deeded to the Diocese as a church site, and a small concrete block chapel was built seating 100 people..

On September 7, 1954 a parish church was officially established in Inverness by Archbishop Joseph Hurley under the name Our Lady of Fatima. The church was first used November 14, 1954. The territory of the mission was taken from St. Anthony's in Brooksville, where for some previous years the small group of Catholic had been attending Sunday Mass. The territory assigned to Our Lady of Fatima was the eastern half of Citrus County.

In 1957 Fr. Tom Hoffman built a shrine next to the church depicting Our Lady of Fatima and the three shepherd children resting on a hilltop of native stone. After Fr. Hoffman's death the shrine was dedicated to his memory.

There were many priest changes between 1957 & 1973. In 1973 shortly after the arrival of Father Laurence, it was determined that the chapel in Sportsman's Park was unable to accommodate the unusual increase of parishioners.

In the spring of 1971, the members of the parish approved the construction of a new church. Once again, Fr. George Cummings was asked to locates an appropriate site for the building of a large church and forward his findings to Bishop McLaughlin. From those findings, the Bishop recommended ten acres on US Hwy 41S as the most desirable site.

In November 1973, Fr. James Cottrell a diocesan priest was assigned as successor to Fr. Laurence, and he proceeded to carry out the plans for the new church which had been initiated prior to his arrival.

Ground breaking took place on March 10, 1974. On September 12, 1974 Bishop Venancio of Fatima, Portugal arrived in Inverness. The following day, a concelebrated Mass was said at the outdoor shrine of the mission church.

In January 1975 the larger church and parish hall were blessed on the present site of our church. Soon, that became too small, so a parish center in memory of Fr. Ignatius McCarty was built in 1979.

When Fr. Cottrell left on July 2, 1981, the Bishop assigned Fr. Desmond Gill as Pastor. Again population growth outstripped anticipation and in the early eighties it was foreseen that the Catholic Church would soon need an adequate church, classrooms and parish hall.

Father Gill formed a parish committee for a new church and any needed renovations.

On Ascension Thursday, May 28, 1987 building began on our third parish church in Inverness in thirty years. The fourteen glass Stations of the Cross were taken and installed in the glass wall of the new church. The beautiful wood sculpture of the Crucified Christ was transferred from the former church and installed in the new building.

On the Feast of the Sacred Heart, Friday June 10, 1988, the first Mass was celebrated in the new church. Parishioners observed the Byzantine three barred cross that decorated the front of the altar. This symbolized the unity of the Roman Catholic Church with the Greek and Russian Orthodox communities which shared our facilities from 1981 until the construction of their respective buildings.

Fr. Gill retired as our Pastor on January 1, 1994. His replacement was Rev. Msgr. Norman Balthazar. During his time as Pastor he was instrumental in developing the landscaping of the church grounds.

Msgr. Balthazar was replaced by Rev. James B. Johnson in June 1996. Under the guidance of Father Johnson, our parish was able to celebrate the burning of the mortgage. Fr. Johnson was also responsible for the refurbishing the church and attaining and maintaining stability of our Parish Finances.

In 2014, After 18 years at Our Lady of Fatima, Fr. Johnson was transferred to St. Scholastica, which is another parish within the Citrus Deanery which consists of 6 parishes.

On July 1, 2014 Rev. Timothy P. Cummings arrived as our new Parochial Administrator, working alongside Fr. Erwin Belgica, or Parochial Vicar. On May 1, 2016, Fr. Tim was named Pastor of our church.. In the two years of his arrival, Fr. Tim has continued to maintain the stability that our parish community has come to expect, while infusing his own style of spirituality and enthusiasm. We will be celebrating his Installation in the coming months.