About our Parish

Since 1892 Santo Christo Parish has served the Portuguese-speaking Catholic community in the Fall River area. We are the only parish in the world with our name, the original and longer version of which was Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres ("Lord Holy Christ of the Miracles"). We incorporate the image of the Lord Jesus Christ scourged and crowned before His crucifixion, as image known as "Ecce homo" (Latin for "Behold the man"), drawing from Pontius Pilate's utterance in John 19:5. The image is widely revered on the island of São Miguel in the Azores, where much of our community has roots.

We pray the Sacred Liturgy and devotions in Portuguese and English, with occasional use of Latin, our common language as Roman, or Latin-rite, Catholics. Our Religious Education classes are taught in English, though many of our catechists are bilingual and thus able to communicate with students and parents whose English is limited.

A history of our parish is provided in our 125th Anniversary commemorative book (Adobe PDF), which can be downloaded by clicking the box below.

125th Anniversary Book

How to Join our Parish

If you would like to become a member of Santo Christo Parish, you can download the New Parishioner Form (Adobe PDF) by clicking the box below. Return the completed form to the Parish Office in person during business hours, or by mail.

New Parishioner Form

Diocesan Departments and Groups

Diocese of Fall River Home Page
Bishop Da Cunha's Blog
Catholic Foundation of SE Massachusetts
Foundation to Advance Catholic Education
Secretariat for the New Evangelization           
         (formerly the Office of Faith Formation)
Strategic and Pastoral Planning
Catholic Schools Alliance
Office of Clergy Support
Office of the Permanent Diaconate
Pro-Life Apostolate & Project Rachel
Health Facilities
Catholic Social Services
Saint Vincent's Services
Tribunal
The Anchor newspaper

Links to the Wider Church

Massachusetts Catholic Conference
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Catholic Bishops' Conference of Portugal
Agência Ecclesia
The Holy See (Vatican)
GCatholic.org
Monthly Prayer Request for Priests

Deepen your Catholic Faith

Catholic Answers
Catholic Education Resource Center
Catholic Resources
Fish Eaters
Institute of Catholic Culture
Into the Breach (for men)
Strange Notions
Word on Fire