| 1st, 3rd and 4th Sundays | 11:45 AM |
Saint Francis of Assisi church was the first Catholic church to be built in Sumter County, Alabama. Ground was broken and construction started in 1963. The church was dedicated by Archbishop Toolen on April 19, 1964. The church was erected with financial aid from the Mobile-Birmingham Holy Name Chapel Fund; the Extension Society and donations from parishioners and friends in the area. At the time of the dedication there were twelve Catholic families living in the parish, as well as some students from Livingston State University (now the University of West Alabama).
Livingston is listed in The Catholic Directory as a Station church served by priests from Saint John the Baptist church, Tuscaloosa, from 1895-1935. It later came under the care of Saint Leo the Great in Demopolis.
Saint Francis of Assisi Mission was raised to the stature of a Parish in January, 1972, by Bishop Vath, with Rev. Michael MacMahon as first pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. Paschal Rys, O.F.M., in May that year, with attached Mission of Saint Mary's, Eutaw, and the added responsibility for the Campus at Livingston State University. An added obligation was to assist the Consolata Sisters in their work with rural blacks.
On September 1, 1973, Rev. Luke Dyjak, O.F.M., became pastor, with Missions at Eutaw and Reform, Alabama (Saint Mary's and Saint Robert's). On July 2, 1974, Rev. Camillus Blazak, O.F.M. was appointed pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. Adrian van Ruijven, M.H.M. in 1979. In 1985 Rev. Paul Aronica S.D.B. and Brother Charles Todel S.D.B. were given the care of the parish. Rev. Paul Stephen Holt was named pastor in 1989.
In 1991 Saint Francis of Assisi and its Mission, Saint Mary in Eutaw were placed under the care of Holy Spirit church in Tuscaloosa. In 1995 the churches in Livingston, Eutaw and Reform were placed under the care of the West Alabama Missions, with Rev. David Buchanan as the Administrator. In 1998, the parish in Livingston was once again attached to Saint Leo the Great in Demopolis with Rev. Robert Sullivan as the pastor.