About St. Catherine · Conehatta, Mississippi
St. Catherine Mission is a small Catholic mission church in the unincorporated community of Conehatta, Newton County, Mississippi, within the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians reservation. It is one of three worship sites that together make up Holy Rosary Indian Mission in the Diocese of Jackson, alongside Holy Rosary Church in Tucker and St. Therese Church near Pearl River. The mission is staffed by the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity (S.T.) and is historically significant as the place where Father Bob Goodyear celebrated the first Mass ever prayed in the Choctaw language on May 1, 1983, with a Vatican-approved translation.
- Established
- 1938
- Patron
- St. Catherine of Alexandria
- Rector
- Reverend Robert (Bob) Goodyear, S.T.
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson
Why belong here
St. Catherine Mission is a tight-knit Catholic community inside the Mississippi Choctaw reservation, where Mass is celebrated in English (with occasional Mass in the Choctaw language — the only Catholic Mass in the world celebrated in Choctaw) and where the pastor has spent decades forming lay Eucharistic ministers, catechists and confirmation candidates from among the Choctaw themselves. It is one of only three worship sites of Holy Rosary Indian Mission, the oldest Catholic mission to the Mississippi Choctaw, so belonging here means walking in the footsteps of a 140-year-old Catholic presence on the reservation. Visitors are welcomed alongside tribal members for Sunday Mass, sacramental preparation, and a strong culture of lay leadership and family ministry.
Mass times at St. Catherine
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- 30 minutes before weekend Masses
- Upon request
St. Catherine Mission — Catholic Presence on the Mississippi Choctaw Reservation
St. Catherine Mission sits on Highway 489 in Conehatta, the heart of one of the reservation communities of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in Newton County, Mississippi. It is one of three Catholic worship sites that together make up Holy Rosary Indian Mission, an apostolate of the Diocese of Jackson staffed by the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity. The mission serves a tight-knit bilingual community in which English is used at Sunday Mass, but the Choctaw language and Choctaw Catholic identity remain central to parish life. Father Bob Goodyear — who has spent a combined 31 years serving Holy Rosary Indian Mission — describes the role of the church as believing in the Choctaw, in their giftedness, beauty, talents and hopes, so that they may believe in themselves as much as God believes in them.
- Address: 9857 Highway 489, Conehatta, MS 39057 (about 15 miles from Union on Hwy. 489)
- Mailing: P.O. Box 37, Philadelphia, MS 39350-0037
- Phone: (601) 656-2880
- Email: [email protected]
- Sunday Mass: 12:15 PM English (with occasional Mass in the Vatican-approved Choctaw translation)
- Confession: 30 minutes before weekend Masses and upon request
History and Choctaw Heritage
The Mississippi Choctaw community that St. Catherine serves was formed by those tribal members who refused removal after the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, hiding in swamps and working as sharecroppers rather than join the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory. In 1884 a Catholic priest was sent to minister to them and founded Holy Rosary Indian Mission, buying land, building cabins, providing tools and seeds, and inviting the Choctaw to settle there. St. Catherine in Conehatta was built in 1938 as a second mission chapel; the third, St. Therese near Pearl River, was built in 1948 (with a new church dedicated in 1972). When the federal government finally recognized the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the mission transferred most of its 'mission lands' to the tribe in trust, on condition that they always be used for the Choctaw people. Catholic Extension Society has supported the mission since 1926, and the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity (S.T.) took over staffing in 1944.
- 1884 — Holy Rosary Indian Mission founded
- 1926 — Catholic Extension Society begins supporting the mission
- 1938 — St. Catherine Mission built in Conehatta
- 1944 — Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity (S.T.) arrive to staff the mission
- 1948 — St. Therese Mission built near Pearl River (new church 1972)
- 1969 — New Holy Rosary Church built in Tucker with Catholic Extension help
- 1983 — First Mass in the Choctaw language celebrated at St. Catherine on May 1
The First Mass in the Choctaw Language
The defining moment in St. Catherine's modern story was May 1, 1983, when Father Robert 'Bob' Goodyear, S.T. celebrated the first Mass ever in the Choctaw language inside St. Catherine. Father Goodyear had arrived at Holy Rosary Indian Mission as a newly ordained priest in 1975 and, though he had been told not to bother learning Choctaw because non-natives had never succeeded, spent the next eight years studying the language with the help of three Choctaw teachers and an elder who was the recognized expert. With the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, the USCCB, and finally the Sacred Liturgy office in Rome all approving the text, the translation Father Goodyear produced remains the only Vatican-approved Mass text in the Choctaw language and is the only one he is authorized to celebrate. In his homily at that first Mass he told the congregation: 'Language is more than words and how you put them together. Language tells you your history. It tells you your dreams.'
- May 1, 1983 — First Mass in the Choctaw language at St. Catherine Mission, Conehatta
- Translation produced by Father Bob Goodyear, S.T. with three Choctaw teachers and an elder
- Approved by the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, the USCCB, and the Sacred Liturgy office in Rome
- Father Goodyear is the only priest authorized to celebrate the Vatican-approved Choctaw-language Mass
Pastoral Staff and Religious Order
St. Catherine Mission, together with Holy Rosary and St. Therese, is pastored by Reverend Robert 'Bob' Goodyear, S.T., a member of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity (Trinity Missions), who first arrived at Holy Rosary Indian Mission in 1975 and is now in his second stint as pastor (2006–present) after assignments in Tennessee and Magee, Mississippi. The Diocese of Jackson parish-finder also lists Rev. Sleeva Mekala as Administrator and Rev. Alexis Zuniga, S.T. as Associate Pastor for the cluster. Father Goodyear's ordination anniversary is celebrated May 24, and in 2021 he was 72 years old. The Trinity Missions charism of 'preservation of the faith among the poor and abandoned' has shaped the pastoral approach at St. Catherine since the order took over the apostolate in 1944.
- Pastor: Rev. Robert 'Bob' Goodyear, S.T.
- Administrator: Rev. Sleeva Mekala (Diocese of Jackson parish-finder listing)
- Associate Pastor: Rev. Alexis Zuniga, S.T. (Diocese of Jackson parish-finder listing)
- Religious order: Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity (S.T.), present at Holy Rosary Indian Mission since 1944
- Diocese: Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson
Lay Leadership and Catechesis
A defining feature of ministry at St. Catherine and the two sister churches is the systematic formation of lay leaders. Father Goodyear developed a training manual for lay Eucharistic ministers that teaches them not only how to assist at Mass but also how to lead a Communion service in the absence of a priest and how to bring the Eucharist to the sick and shut-ins — a resource now used throughout the Diocese of Jackson and in parishes in other states. He also personally serves as catechist for confirmation, has trained eucharistic ministers who have gone on to be catechists themselves, and runs the parish's RCIA and RCIC programs. Father Goodyear has been explicit that his goal is for the reservation to assume more responsibility for the future of its own churches, so that lay leaders will help pass on the faith to future generations.
- Lay Eucharistic Minister training (manual used across the Diocese of Jackson and other states)
- RCIA / RCIC for adults and children
- Confirmation catechesis led personally by Father Goodyear
- Marriage preparation
Social Outreach and 'Non-Traditional' Ministries
Alongside the usual parochial work, Father Goodyear has run what he calls 'non-traditional' ministries aimed at preserving the life, language and dignity of the Mississippi Choctaw. He established the Choctaw Suicide Council and authored the corresponding Suicide Counseling Manual; opened a youth recreation center by remodeling the old convent building; and worked with the tribe on the Choctaw Human Services Council, the Choctaw Most In Need Indian Children and Youth federal demonstration project, and with the Choctaw grant-writing office to sustain both faith and culture. He has also worked alongside the tribe encouraging Choctaws to take the COVID-19 vaccine and reached out to those afraid to return to church during the pandemic, accompanying a community that, during the height of the pandemic, was burying far more of its elders than usual.
- Choctaw Suicide Council and Suicide Counseling Manual
- Youth recreation center (former convent remodeled by Father Goodyear)
- Choctaw Human Services Council partnership
- Choctaw Most In Need Indian Children and Youth federal demonstration project
- Collaboration with the Choctaw grant-writing office
- Pastoral outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic
Visiting St. Catherine Mission
St. Catherine Mission is open to visitors attending Sunday Mass and to those wishing to learn about the long Catholic presence on the Mississippi Choctaw reservation. Because it is one of three mission sites served by the same priest, visitors are encouraged to check the Holy Rosary Indian Mission website (holyrosaryindianmission.com) or call (601) 656-2880 for the latest schedule before traveling. The mission sits on Highway 489 in Conehatta, about 15 miles from Union; the mailing address is P.O. Box 37, Philadelphia, MS 39350-0037. For those interested in the wider story of Catholicism among the Mississippi Choctaw, the mission's three churches — Holy Rosary in Tucker, St. Therese near Pearl River and St. Catherine in Conehatta — span roughly 87 miles of central Mississippi.
- Address: 9857 Highway 489, Conehatta, MS 39057
- Phone: (601) 656-2880
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: holyrosaryindianmission.com
- Located about 15 miles from Union on Hwy. 489
- Mailing: P.O. Box 37, Philadelphia, MS 39350-0037
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity (S.T.) — various priests assigned1944–present
The Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity (Trinity Missions) took over staffing of Holy Rosary Indian Mission in 1944 and have served the three mission churches (Holy Rosary, St. Therese, St. Catherine) ever since. Individual priests assigned since 1975 include Father Bob Goodyear, S.T. The parish-finder listing for the broader Mission cluster also lists Rev. Sleeva Mekala as Administrator and Rev. Alexis Zuniga, S.T. as Associate Pastor.
- Reverend Robert 'Bob' Goodyear, S.T.1975–1990 (first assignment); 2006–present (current pastor)
Arrived as a newly ordained Missionary Servant priest in 1975. Spent his early years learning Choctaw culture and language from three Choctaw teachers; after eight years translated the Mass into Choctaw and celebrated the first Mass in the Choctaw language at St. Catherine on May 1, 1983. Assigned away 1990–2006 (missions in Tennessee and Magee, MS); returned to Holy Rosary Indian Mission in 2006 as pastor of Holy Rosary, St. Therese and St. Catherine. Developed a Eucharistic minister training manual used across the Diocese of Jackson and beyond; founded the Choctaw Suicide Council and Suicide Counseling Manual; opened a youth recreation center. Ordination anniversary listed as May 24 in the Mississippi Catholic; born c. 1949 (described as 72 in 2021).