About St. Catherine · Dubuque, Iowa
St. Catherine Parish is a small rural Catholic mission parish located at 5181 St. Catherine Road, about eight miles south of Dubuque, Iowa, in Dubuque County. It is one of four parishes in a clustered family served from St. Joseph Catholic Church in nearby Bellevue, sharing a pastor, staff, and worship schedule. Listed by the Archdiocese of Dubuque as a mission of St. Joseph, Bellevue, St. Catherine celebrates Sunday Mass at 9:15 AM on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sundays of the month, with its roots going back to the early 1850s when Irish and German Catholic settlers first built a log church on donated land.
- Established
- 1851
- Patron
- Saint Catherine of Alexandria
- Rector
- Rev. Andy Upah
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Dubuque (Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dubuque)
Why belong here
St. Catherine offers a small, rural Catholic community with deep roots in the Dubuque County countryside — a place where the same families that built the first log church in 1851 are still remembered in the parish's cemeteries and commemorative booklets. As part of the SJ+SPP+SC+SD cluster, the parish combines the intimacy of a country mission with the resources of a four-parish family, including faith formation for youth, online giving, a parish YouTube channel, and a joint Facebook presence. Sunday Mass is celebrated on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th weekends, and visitors are warmly invited to join in the Eucharistic life of this historic Saint Catherine of Alexandria parish.
Mass times at St. Catherine
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 4:00 PM – 4:45 PM at St. Joseph, Bellevue (cluster-wide)
Adoration times
- 1st Friday 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM during the summer at St. Joseph, Bellevue (cluster-wide)
Parish Identity & History
St. Catherine is a Catholic mission parish in the Archdiocese of Dubuque, located about eight miles south of the city of Dubuque along St. Catherine Road in Dubuque County. Its story begins in 1851, when Irish and German settlers built a log church on land donated by Anthony Noel and Hubert Rider. Bishop Mathias Loras named the parish for Saint Catherine of Alexandria after Irish families asked for Saint Bridget and German families asked for a German patron. The current Gothic Revival brick church was completed in 1887 and still anchors the community today.
- Founded 1851 with a log church on Noel/Rider-donated land
- Mass celebrated earlier in the John Noel home, three miles north
- Patron chosen by Bishop Loras as Irish–German compromise
- Present brick church completed in 1887
- Centennial commemorated in 1987 (The Witness, Vol. VII, No. 20)
Cluster of Four Parishes (SJ+SPP+SC+SD)
St. Catherine is administered jointly with three neighboring parishes from the main parish office at St. Joseph Church, 405 Franklin Street, Bellevue, Iowa 52031. Together they form the SJ+SPP+SC+SD cluster: St. Joseph (Bellevue), Sts. Peter & Paul (Springbrook, 105 E Main St.), St. Catherine (Dubuque County), and St. Donatus (97 E. 1st St., St. Donatus, Iowa 52071). The Archdiocese of Dubuque formally lists St. Catherine as a mission of St. Joseph, Bellevue, while the cluster shares a pastor, staff, bulletin, online giving, YouTube channel, and Facebook page.
- Main parish office: St. Joseph, 405 Franklin St., Bellevue, IA 52031
- Sts. Peter & Paul: 105 E Main St., Springbrook, IA 52075
- St. Catherine: 5181 St. Catherine Rd., Dubuque, IA 52003
- St. Donatus: 97 E. 1st St., St. Donatus, IA 52071
Parish Staff & Pastoral Council
The four-parish cluster is led by one pastor and supported by a deacon, a coordinator of faith formation and youth ministry, a pastoral associate, and a secretary/bookkeeper, all reachable through the main parish office at (563) 872-3234. Each parish also has its own Pastoral Council Chairperson, with Kyle Pfeiffer serving as St. Catherine's representative.
- Rev. Andy Upah — Pastor
- Deacon Loras Weber
- Angela Burken — Coordinator of Faith Formation & Youth Minister
- Yvette Andersen — Pastoral Associate
- Denise Michel — Secretary and Bookkeeper
- Mary Beth Wagner — St. Catherine Coordinator of Faith Formation
- Kyle Pfeiffer — Pastoral Council Chairperson @ St. Catherine (563-557-9929)
- Mary Sieverding — Chairperson @ St. Joseph (563-590-4466)
- Kaitlin Till — Chairperson @ Sts. Peter & Paul (563-357-4081)
- Larry Herrig — Chairperson @ St. Donatus (563-580-2931)
Faith Formation & Youth Ministry
Faith formation across the cluster is coordinated by Angela Burken, the cluster's Coordinator of Faith Formation and Youth Minister. At St. Catherine specifically, Mary Beth Wagner serves as the local Coordinator of Faith Formation, supporting catechesis for parish children and families.
- Angela Burken — cluster-wide Coordinator of Faith Formation & Youth Minister
- Mary Beth Wagner — St. Catherine Coordinator of Faith Formation
Sacraments
The cluster celebrates the seven Catholic sacraments — Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony, and Holy Orders — with preparation coordinated through the parish office. Reconciliation is offered Saturday afternoons at St. Joseph, and parishioners may contact the main parish office to begin preparation for Baptism, Marriage, or other sacramental needs.
- Baptism preparation through the parish office
- Reconciliation Saturdays 4:00–4:45 PM at St. Joseph
- Eucharist at St. Catherine on 1st, 3rd, & 5th Sundays
- Marriage preparation by appointment
Communication, Giving & Online Resources
The cluster publishes a weekly bulletin, maintains a unified website at sjandspp.com, offers online giving, streams homilies and music on its YouTube channel, and posts news on a shared Facebook page. Daily Mass readings are linked from USCCB on the parish homepage, and the parish uses the FORMED platform for ongoing faith formation.
- Website: https://sjandspp.com/
- Facebook: facebook.com/stjosephbellevue/
- YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCstxBm6w98N-91ZEpgO62Mg
- Online Giving available via the parish website
- FORMED digital platform subscription
- Links to USCCB daily readings and the Archdiocese of Dubuque