[3] National parishes were first established in North America in the late 18th century, to meet the needs of immigrants not speaking the language of the majority population.
Father Raymond A. Schroth, SJ, wrote in a 2002 National Catholic Reporter article about trusteeism that, "national parishes, particularly German and Polish, who brought over European traditions of the laypeople establishing and directing the parish," have strongly represented the voice of the laity in the church.
[4] The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, when covering Pope Benedict XVI's 2008 visit to the United States, identified two historically significant national parishes: Holy Trinity Church, in Philadelphia, established in 1789 as both the first national parish in the United States and the first to serve German-speaking Catholics; and, Saint Benedict the Moor's Church, in New York, established in 1883 as the first mission parish to serve African-American Catholics north of the Mason-Dixon line.
In a 2009 National Catholic Reporter article about the resignation of Bishop Joseph Francis Martino of the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, Jerry Filteau noted the diocese's history of establishing national parishes for Polish people, Italians, Irish and other Catholic immigrant groups who arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Parish members are primarily Mexican, but some are Puerto Rican, Colombian, Argentinian, or have other Latin American backgrounds.