About The Harvard Catholic Center · Cambridge, Massachusetts
The Harvard Catholic Center (HCC), founded in 1893, is the Roman Catholic chaplaincy for Harvard University and serves undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, families, and alumni from across the globe. The Center is housed within historic St. Paul's Parish in the heart of Harvard Square, sharing its Italian Romanesque church at the corner of Bow and Arrow Streets. Drawing on a more-than-century-old tradition in the world's most prominent university town, the HCC forms missionary disciples through Catholic worship, inquiry, prayer, and service, and partners with St. Paul's and the Harvard Catholic Forum to offer some of the most celebrated liturgy, sacred music, and RCIA formation in the Archdiocese of Boston.
- Established
- 1893
- Patron
- St. Paul the Apostle (parish host of the same name)
- Rector
- Fr. William T. Kelly (Pastor of St. Paul's Parish and Senior Catholic Chaplain to Harvard, since June 2016); Fr. Nathaniel Sanders serves as Senior Chaplain of the Harvard Catholic Center.
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Boston
Why belong here
The Harvard Catholic Center is the doorway into Catholic life for the entire Harvard community, offering sixteen Masses a week, Friday Eucharistic Adoration, and one of the largest RCIA programs in the Northeast that welcomes dozens of converts each year. Its Graduate & Young Professionals ministry hosts dozens of weekly formation groups — Verbum Dei discussions, St. Joseph men's group, Women's group, Frassati Mountaineering Society, R&R Rosary nights, the Saturday service trips to the Missionaries of Charity — alongside Music Ministry offerings that span the student Mass choir, the auditioned Harvard Catholic Schola, and the parish choir. As the Anchor of St. Paul's historic Harvard Square parish, the HCC gives visitors, students, and Cambridge professionals alike a vibrant, intellectually-engaged home to grow in a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ.
Mass times at The Harvard Catholic Center
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM (confession room in back corner of church)
- Thursday 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM during the Academic Term (in booth on left side of church; resumes September 3, 2026)
- By appointment: contact the parish office [email protected] or 617-491-8400 x303
Adoration times
- Friday 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM (in the Main Church)
About the Harvard Catholic Center
Founded in 1893, the Harvard Catholic Center is the Roman Catholic chaplaincy for Harvard University. Located on the outskirts of Harvard Square within the historic St. Paul's Parish, it serves undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, families, and alumni from across the globe. The Center's mission is to invite the greater Harvard community to grow in a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ through Catholic worship, inquiry, prayer, and service — forming disciples who use their gifts for the flourishing of the Church and the world. The Center partners closely with St. Paul's Parish, the Harvard Catholic Forum, and the St. Paul's Choir School to animate Catholic life in Cambridge.
- Roman Catholic chaplaincy for Harvard University since 1893
- Housed within St. Paul's Parish, Harvard Square
- Mission: Catholic worship, inquiry, prayer, and service
- Partners: St. Paul's Parish, Harvard Catholic Forum, St. Paul's Choir School, FOCUS
History of St. Paul's and the Catholic Presence at Harvard
Catholic chaplaincy at Harvard has been continuous since 1893, but the parish that houses it — St. Paul's — was founded in 1875 to serve the influx of Irish Catholics into West Cambridge. The parish first worshiped in a former Shepherd Congregational Society meeting house purchased by Fr. Manasses Dougherty in 1873. As the community grew, a larger site was acquired at Bow and Arrow Streets in 1889; the cornerstone for the present Italian Romanesque church, designed by Harvard graduate Edward T. P. Graham and inspired by Verona's Basilica of San Zeno Maggiore, was laid in November 1916 under then-pastor Rev. John J. Ryan.
- Parish formally erected 1875
- Original church: former Shepherd Congregational building (1873)
- Current church: cornerstone 1916, first Mass Easter 1923, dedicated October 1924
- Architect: Edward T. P. Graham (Harvard grad, first Rome/Beaux-Arts Traveling Fellow)
- 1991 under Fr. John P. Boles: old school replaced by multipurpose building housing rectory, parish offices, the Choir School, and the Harvard Catholic Center
Chaplains, Clergy & Staff
The Center is led by Senior Chaplain Fr. Nathaniel Sanders (ordained 2022 by Cardinal Seán O'Malley for the Archdiocese of Boston; joined the HCC in spring 2024 after two years at St. Columbkille Parish in Brighton). The pastor of host parish St. Paul's is Rev. William T. Kelly, who has served as Senior Catholic Chaplain to Harvard since June 2016. Graduate ministry is led by Fr. George Salzmann, OSFS, of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. Dcn. Tim O'Donnell serves as a deacon, and the Forum hosts an extensive sacred-music lineup.
- Rev. William T. Kelly – Pastor, St. Paul's / Senior Catholic Chaplain to Harvard
- Rev. Nathaniel Sanders – Senior Chaplain, Harvard Catholic Center
- Rev. George Salzmann, OSFS – Graduate Chaplain
- Dcn. Tim O'Donnell – Deacon
- Executive Director (staff listed at harvardcatholic.org/staff)
- Douglas H. Zack – Director of Advancement (617-868-6585 | x325)
- Nancy Nicolaou – Administrative Coordinator (x303)
- Emily Theisen – Director of Marketing & Media (x328)
- Douglas Lee – Manager of Finance & Operations (x307)
- William Endicott – Music Director / Director of the Harvard Catholic Schola
- Adam Ziccardi – Program Coordinator (x327) and Forum instructor
FOCUS Missionaries at Harvard
The Harvard Catholic Center partners with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), fielding a four-person missionary team dedicated to building personal relationships with undergraduates and forming them as missionary disciples of Christ.
- Ian Rush – Team Director
- William Wolfe – Missionary
- Abby Govea – Missionary
- Ally Kysely – Missionary
Becoming Catholic: RCIA / OCIA
St. Paul's hosts one of the largest RCIA (now OCIA) programs in the Northeast, receiving dozens of converts each year. Consisting of college students, graduate students, and local professionals of all ages, the year-long process blends spiritual and theological formation, mentoring, and fellowship, culminating at the Easter Vigil.
- Year-long formation: September through Easter Vigil
- Open to unbaptized adults, baptized Christians, and baptized-but-unconfirmed Catholics
- Weekly Saturday-evening meetings
- Adult Confirmation prepared through the same RCIA process
- OCIA Coordinator: Grace Lin
Graduate Students & Young Professionals (GSYP)
The GSYP is the heart of graduate-student and young-adult Catholic life on campus, with weekly formation groups, monthly Adoration & Dinner nights, and dedicated ministries for schools across Harvard. A separate Sunday Mass for the Harvard Business School community is celebrated at the HBS Class of 1959 Chapel weekly at 8:15 PM during the academic year.
- Verbum Dei (20s) – Sundays 3:45 – 4:30 PM
- Verbum Dei (30s) – Sundays 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
- Young Couples & New Families – 2nd & 4th Sundays after the 9:30 AM Mass, DiGiovanni Hall
- St. Joseph Men's Group – Mondays 7:30 PM, Room 204
- Women's Group – 2nd & 4th Tuesdays 7:00 – 8:30 PM, Mary's Room (202)
- Rosary & Relaxation (R&R) – 2nd, 3rd, 4th Thursdays 7:30 PM
- Play Without Ceasing – 2nd & 4th Fridays 7:30 – 9:00 PM, Bishop Boles Conference Room
- Frassati Mountaineering Society – 1st Saturdays (weather permitting)
- Saturday Service – Missionaries of Charity in Dorchester
- Monthly Dinner & Adoration – 1st Thursdays
- HBS Catholic Student Association (Mass Sundays 8:15 PM, HBS Chapel)
Harvard Catholic Forum – Sacred Music & Intellectual Life
Founded in 2020 as a project of the Harvard Catholic Center in partnership with St. Paul's and the St. Paul's Choir School, the Forum shares the riches of Catholic thought and culture with the academic and professional worlds. Its Sacred Music Division integrates the experience, understanding, and performance of sacred music — chant, polyphony, and traditional hymnody — into liturgy and theology.
- Lectures, discussion groups, non-credit courses
- Sacred Music concerts (Fauré's Requiem, Notre Dame C. 1200, etc.)
- Liturgical Music Workshop – Sundays 2:30 – 4:00 PM, summer
- Harvard Catholic Schola at St. Paul's – Sundays 3:30 – 4:45 PM rehearsal, 5 PM Mass
- Schola Director: William Endicott
- Instructors / performers: Adam Ziccardi, Nara Lee, Brandon Straub, Fr. Romanos Karanos, Dr. Matthew Hall, Elizabeth Lyon Hall, Zen Kuriyama, Thomas Forrest Kelly
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Manasses Dougherty1873–1875 (founding era)
Pioneering priest who purchased the former Shepherd Congregational church in 1873 to serve West Cambridge; the parish was formally erected in 1875.
- Rev. John J. Ryan
Then-pastor who laid the cornerstone for the present Italian Romanesque church in November 1916.
- Rev. John P. Boles
Later Auxiliary Bishop of Boston; under his 1991 direction the old parish school was torn down and replaced with the multipurpose building that today houses the rectory, parish offices, the Choir School, and the Harvard Catholic Center.
- Rev. William T. Kelly2016–present
Pastor of St. Paul's Parish and Senior Catholic Chaplain to Harvard since June 2016.