Saint Catharine of Siena Parish was founded October 8, 1919, when Archbishop Dennis Cardinal Dougherty, Archdiocese of Philadelphia appointed the Reverend John C. Phelan as pastor of a new church in the west end of Allentown.

[1] By 1952, the parish campus had grown greatly, with additions of a school and convent and there was a need for a new church.

The Most Reverend Joseph M. McShea, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia laid the cornerstone of the new structure on April 26, 1953.

was installed as the first Bishop of Allentown on April 11, 1961, thus officially raising St. Catharine of Siena Church to a Cathedral.

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