About Holy Cross · Stockton, Illinois
Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic parish in Stockton, Illinois, situated in the rolling countryside of Jo Daviess County in the northwest corner of the state. It belongs to the Freeport Deanery of the Diocese of Rockford and is currently led by Rev. Michael E. Morrissey as Parochial Administrator, with Deacon Charles Loehr assisting. Founded in 1893, the parish serves approximately 199 registered families from a church built in 1892 with a seating capacity of 250–270. The parish offers eight Masses each week, the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Saturdays and Sundays, and weekly Eucharistic Adoration and Rosary devotion on Thursdays.
- Established
- 1893
- Patron
- Holy Cross
- Rector
- Rev. Michael E. Morrissey (Parochial Administrator)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Rockford (Freeport Deanery)
Why belong here
Holy Cross offers an unusually rich liturgical life for a parish of its size, with eight Masses each week (including three Sunday Masses and a Saturday Vigil), weekday adoration on Thursdays, and regular Saturday and Sunday confession times. The community of roughly 199 families is large enough to sustain a vibrant parish but small enough that parishioners genuinely know one another and their priest. Its long history — dating to 1893 — and its setting in Stockton, in the heart of Jo Daviess County, make it a welcoming rural parish where the Catholic faith has been lived and passed down for more than 130 years.
Mass times at Holy Cross
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 3:30 p.m.
- Sunday 9:30 a.m.
- Or by appointment
Adoration times
- Thursday 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Parish Identity & Location
Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic parish in the village of Stockton, the county seat of Jo Daviess County in the far northwest corner of Illinois, near the Wisconsin border. It belongs to the Freeport Deanery of the Diocese of Rockford. The parish's mailing address is 223 E. Front Ave., Stockton, IL 61085, with the parish phone at (815) 947-2545, a separate rectory line at (815) 947-2751, and a fax at (815) 947-3705. Parishioners can reach the parish office by email at [email protected], and the parish maintains an active Facebook page under the name Holy Cross Catholic Church.
- Address: 223 E. Front Ave., Stockton, IL 61085
- Parish phone: (815) 947-2545
- Rectory phone: (815) 947-2751
- Fax: (815) 947-3705
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: holycross.weconnect.com
History
According to the Diocese of Rockford's official parish register, Holy Cross Parish was founded in 1893, while the church building itself is dated to 1892. This pattern — a congregation gathering in a newly-built structure that was then formally constituted as a parish — was common throughout rural 19th-century Illinois, where German, Irish, and other Catholic immigrant communities built churches as physical anchors for their growing faith communities. Stockton, settled largely by such immigrants in the mid- to late-1800s, was no exception, and Holy Cross has remained a fixture of the village's Catholic life for more than 130 years. The parish has weathered the usual trials of small rural parishes — population decline, clergy shortages, and the consolidation of parishes under larger administrative groupings — but continues today as a worshipping community of about 199 registered families.
- Founded: 1893
- Church built: 1892
- Setting: Stockton, Jo Daviess County, Illinois
- Part of the Freeport Deanery, Diocese of Rockford
Parish Leadership & Clergy
The parish is currently led by Rev. Michael E. Morrissey, who serves as Parochial Administrator. He is assisted by Deacon Charles Loehr. The diocesan profile lists Rev. Morrissey as the sole priest in charge of Holy Cross, consistent with the common practice in the Freeport Deanery of assigning a single priest to administer multiple small rural parishes. Historically, Rev. Robert Jones served as pastor of Holy Cross from 1998 to 2001, before being reassigned to St. Patrick Parish in Dixon, and later to St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Sugar Grove.
- Rev. Michael E. Morrissey — Parochial Administrator
- Deacon Charles Loehr
- Rev. Robert Jones — pastor, 1998–2001
Parish at a Glance
Holy Cross is a small, mission-shaped rural Catholic community in northwest Illinois. Its combination of a 19th-century founding, a modest but full weekly schedule of Masses and devotions, and its long-serving presence in Stockton makes it a parish where generations of local Catholic families have worshipped, married, baptized their children, and been laid to rest. As part of the Diocese of Rockford's Freeport Deanery, it shares regional pastoral resources with neighboring parishes while maintaining its own identity, schedule, and community life.
- Registered families: 199
- Church seating capacity: 250–270
- Deanery: Freeport
- Diocese: Rockford
- Language: English
- Rite: Roman-Latin
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Robert Jones1998–2001
Served as pastor of Holy Cross Parish, Stockton, before being assigned to St. Patrick Parish, Dixon (2001–2007).