In August of 1570, a band of Jesuit Missionaries, led by Father Juan Baptista de Segura, sailed from Florida for Virginia guided by a baptized Virginia Indian and accompanied by Alonso de Olmos, the young son of a Floridian colonist who had been trained to serve Mass.

Full religious freedom was not granted in the Old Dominion until after the American Revolution. It was not until 1785, in Thomas Jefferson's "Act for Establishing Religious Freedom," . . one of the great characters of human liberty . . that Catholics as well as other religious groups were free to worship openly in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The original Diocese of Richmond was established in 1820 under America's first See at Baltimore. It comprised the entire Commonwealth of Virginia, which then included the modern state of West Virginia.

On October 14, 1855, at the first Virginia Diocesan Synod, St. Vincent de Paul was chosen Patron of the Diocese.

In 1881 Mr. & Mrs. Charles W. Lohmann, Sr., moved to Newport News from Richmond. With thirty Catholics gathered at their home at 201 23rd street, they organized St. Vincent de Paul Parish.

In February 1891, construction of the first church was begun on Washington Avenue near 34th Street. A construction firm from Richmond was awarded the building contract, but parishioners performed much of the actual labor.

The first Mass was celebrated on Sunday, April 5, 1891. The church was formally dedicated on July 19, 1891. The choir of St. Peter's Cathedral, Richmond, sang the Mass.

On September 27, 1897, the rectory was completed and occupied. Father Donahoe was the parish priest. He listed among his personal belongings a "Columbia Bicycle". That was his mode of transportation and it was fully adequate because the northerly boundry of the city of Newport News was 50th Street. The majority of the parish lived within walking distance of the Church.

A highlight of the year 1902 was the opening of St. Vincent's Boys' Academy at 35th St. and Virginia Avenue (now Warwick Blvd.). In October 1903 a girls' school was opened.

In May 1916, ground was broken for our current church and rectory on 33rd Street. The complex was completed and Mass offered for the first time on Sunday, May 27, 1917. Father David Coleman, Pastor, was celebrant.

In 1917, the United States entered World War I. Newport News was a major port of embarkation. Military personnel arrived in great numbers. Father Coleman labored untiringly, ministering to the spiritual needs of these encampments. The parish had now moved into the new church and rectory. With permission of Bishop O'Connell, Father Coleman offered the former church building on Washington Avenue to the American Red Cross, rent-free, for war-related services.

In April 1931 Father Coleman entered St. Vincent's Hospital, Norfolk. He died in December 1932. He'd owned and bequeathed to the parish a 25.6 acre farm just off Blount Point Road on the James River. Father Coleman is buried alongside the Church he served for so long and so well. Father Coleman was a quiet, soft-spoken priest. He was an astute business man, a skilled administrator and a wise counselor.

The main parish social and fund raising event of the year was the Annual Supper and Bazaar. Beginning about 1926, it was a Turkey Supper. In 1931, the menu changed to Oysters and Ham and continued until the suppers ceased because of World War II. It was a total parish effort with men and women working from early morning until late at night preparing an serving supper.

Expansion of the Catholic population in Newport News in the forties dictated establishment of another church in the city, then just served by St. Vincents. In January 1953, Bishop Ireton announced the formation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, to be staffed by the Carmelite Fathers of Chicago.

In the mid sixties, an important part of the Parish's inner city ministry was the "Apostolus Maris," or Apostleship of the Sea, "embracing the men who build and man the ships." He offered Mass regularly aboard a Navy ship over a period of many months, ministering to hundreds of Catholics who were part of the Merchant Marines.

In 1968, Bishop Russell recommended a reorganization plan for Catholics on the Peninsula and St. Alphonsus parish was merged with St. Vincent de Paul's. Also in 1968, due to liturgical changes, the church's original pulpit, communion rail, the Winter Chapel alter and the baptismal font were removed.

In 1969, the inner city Newport News denominations united to form the League of Downtown Churches. The group began having Palm Sunday processions year and the practice has become a unifying tradition.