Draft:St Catharine of Siena (Columbus, Ohio)

St Catharine of Siena is a Roman Catholic parish that sits on the east side of Columbus Ohio near Bexley. It is a parish within the Diocese of Columbus.

History
The parish was erected from St. Thomas to the north and Holy Rosary to the east, by Bishop Hartley, the 4th Bishop of Columbus in 1931. Hartley also founded St. Charles Seminary (now Preparatory School) and is the namesake of Bishop Hartley High School.

The first construction of the parish was a four-room schoolhouse, along with a small church, the altar of which was dedicated by Bishop Hartley on September 13, 1931.

Ground for the current church was broken in 1960, with the first Mass said in the church being on Christmas Eve, 1961, with a formal dedication by Bishop Isenmann on February 4 of the following year.

In 2020, the church added on and connected the school and the church together. This was done under the leadership of then pastor Fr. Daniel Dury. This included new classrooms, a new reception hall, and an adoration chapel.

As of May 2024, St Catharines has 5 men who are studying in formation to the priesthood. Three are studying for the Diocese of Columbus at The Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio, or Mount St Mary's Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. The other two are in formation for the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priests.

Architecture and Interior
The church is a cross shaped church with the main altar in the middle. There are two side altars, one being a Marian style and the other being a St Joseph style altar.

The windows of the main transept depict the 12 Doctors of the Church, including St. Catherine of Siena, and the others show the Nativity, Passion, and Resurrection, along with ones reflecting on the Beatitudes.

The exterior of the church is a combination of an Art Deco and Modernist-Cubist design, clad in St. Meinrad sandstone and trimmed with Indiana limestone.