Editor’s note: This is the second of several historical articles that were published in the April 16 issue of the AD Times in a special section for the 65th Anniversary of the Diocese of Allentown. To see the special section, click on AD Times at the top of AD Today, then Editions at right, then 04/16/26.
Once known as the town of “Goshenhoppen,” an Indian word meaning “meeting place,” Bally is home to the first parish in the Diocese of Allentown and where faithful met in 1741 as a Catholic mission that later became St. Paul Chapel and is now known as Most Blessed Sacrament (MBS).
The church predates the Declaration of Independence by 35 years.
Father Theodore Schneider, a Jesuit priest, established what would be just the third Catholic mission church in the 13 original colonies on land received from the Mennonite community.
Father Schneider built St. Paul in 1743, and a new St. Paul in 1754, which still stands in the apse of the present church. Tradition says Catholics and Mennonites built the chapel together. Ultimately the structure was enlarged by an extension of the nave and addition of a Colonial façade and vestibule.
After the death of Father Schneider in 1764, Father John Baptist de Ritter served as Pastor until 1787.
In 1822 Father Boniface Corvin was named Pastor of MBS. With Father E. McCarthy, another missionary Jesuit, he made a multitude of lengthy trips to increase the faith in Berks, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, and Schuylkill counties from 1827 to 1829.
In 1837 Father Augustin Bally was appointed Pastor and charged with completing the construction of the church.
Father Bally, an English- and French-speaking priest, arrived at MBS by way of a small wagon to begin serving an estimated 700 faithful. He mapped out plans to build a community of faithful by overseeing the sale of land parcels attracting Catholics from outlying areas.
He also enlarged and remodeled the church’s edifice, bells, steeple, and organ, and promoted the use of the English language. During his ministerial duties at MBS the number of faithful increased to more than 1,700.
Father Bally is also credited with continuing the Jesuit tradition of a strong education system established by his predecessors. In 1850 he built a new parish school, St. Aloysius Academy, marking the beginning of Catholic education in the 13 original colonies. The little schoolroom known as Father Bally’s School forms a passageway from the church to the rectory.
After a long and distinguished career as Pastor of MBS, Father Bally died on Jan. 20, 1882 and was buried in the center of the new parish cemetery. After his death a post office was established Aug. 7, 1883 and named in honor of Father Bally. The town, which had come to be known as Churchville, was incorporated as the Borough of Bally in 1912.
Father John Meurer succeeded Father Bally and was the last Jesuit pastor to serve the parish. In 1889 the Jesuits turned the parish over to the then-Diocese of Philadelphia.
The Sisters of St. Francis from Glen Riddle arrived in 1889 and were the first religious community to teach at Bally. St. Francis Regional Academy opened its doors Sept. 1, 1889, and a new school was built in 1893.
The Jesuit Order turned Most Blessed Sacrament Church over to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1889. The property included the church, house, school and a small portion of land.
The late Father Charles Allwein built a new school when he arrived as Pastor in 1952, and the school opened Sept. 10, 1953. He also opened a parish museum.
The church was restored and renovated between 1884 and 1991. The church’s historic Krauss organ was rededicated, and the parish museum was dedicated in 1997.
Two of MBS’ most prized possessions are paintings of the Last Supper, a gift from Prince-Elect Carol Theodore in 1764, that hangs above the main altar, and the portrait of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary that graces the old chapel.
Today MBS is the oldest existing Catholic place of worship in Pennsylvania and the fourth oldest Catholic structure in the 13 original colonies.
The school, now St. Francis Classical Catholic Academy, is the oldest operating Catholic school in the nation.
Click through below to see images of 1) Fr. Bally, 2) Fr. Allwein, 3) The bell from St. Paul Chapel in the museum at Most Blessed Sacrament, 4) Most Blessed Sacrament, Bally in 1870, and 5) Fr. Schneider’s first Baptismal entry in 1742.
Header image is Fr. Bally and schoolchildren outside St. Aloysius Academy in 1866.
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