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Catholicism in the Greensboro area was directly related to two historical events: the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, and the revolution at Santo Domingo - which brought the first Catholics into this area since DeSoto. His army and their chaplains passed through in 1540. The Vine and Olive Colony of Frenchmen failed and the majority of the people moved away. For those who remained, a priest would come up river by steamboat from Mobile or by horseback, sometimes years apart.
In 1861, Bishop John Quinlan, accompanied by Rev. Jeremiah F. Trecy, visited Greensboro, while on a Confirmation tour of central Alabama. In 1880, the central Alabama Missions were placed under the care of the Jesuit Fathers from Spring Hill College, Mobile. The Jesuit Fathers visited Greensboro monthly. The first Mass in Greensboro was said in the Dorman home (the oldest in the town). Mass was offered for over forty years in the home of Mrs. Minnie Atkins Torbert.
In the spring of 1938, Archbishop Toolen traveled to Greensboro to attend the opening of Saint Mary's Chapel. The chapel consisted of rooms on the second floor of the Ramsey building, renovated and decorated to use as a chapel. The wood work was painted white, the altar was made from a store counter, and the crosses were painted gold. The rooms were formerly used as the local headquarters for the Ku Klux Klan.
The first Catholic church to be erected in Hale County was dedicated by Archbishop Toolen on Palm Sunday, March 22, 1959. In observance of the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes, France, the name "Our Lady of Lourdes" was chosen by the parishioners. The Mission, formerly called Saint Mary's was attached to Saint Leo the Great parish, Demopolis. Our Lady of Lourdes continues to be cared for by the priest(s) in Demopolis.