Mary Immaculate Catholic Church

Father Michael Devaney, of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, received a letter from his provincial in Boston: he had been chosen to start a mission church in West Palm Beach. Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll approved the assignment, effective August 1974, with instructions to begin daily Mass at the Cardinal Newman High School chapel as soon as possible.

The first Mass was celebrated at 10:00 am with 56 people present. Father Devaney announced daily Mass at 7:30 am — three people came the first morning. Within three weeks the congregation had outgrown the chapel and moved into the school cafeteria.

After a few months the boundary lines for the new parish were established. By the fall of 1975 the parish was well established, and parishioners wanted a permanent church of their own.

In January 1977 Father Devaney and Brother Henry Lemoncelli moved into 237 Porter Place. Oblate Father Joseph Pucci was assigned as the first associate pastor in the fall of 1977, and the parish counted more than 700 families.

A fund drive began in January 1980. On December 8, 1980 — the Feast of the Immaculate Conception — the ground was blessed and broken. Holy Week services were held in the new church beginning Holy Thursday, April 8, 1982. The church was dedicated on October 9, 1982.

In the fall of 1982 Father Devaney was succeeded by Father Joseph Gigante, who raised the funds to begin the long-planned parish hall. A new rectory and hall were built in 1990.

In 1991 a new pastor, Father Francis H. Reardon, established the first pastoral council. Soon after, the Oblates and the bishop decided that Mary Immaculate should be placed under the care of the Diocese of Palm Beach.

On September 1, 1994 the pastoral care of the parish passed from the Oblates to the Diocese of Palm Beach, with Father Timothy Lynch as the first diocesan pastor.

Father Tomasz Makowski was appointed pastor on July 1, 2002 and served the parish until July 31, 2026, when Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez transferred him to Saint Lucie Catholic Church in Port St. Lucie.

Father Marc Gustinelli was appointed pastor, joining Mary Immaculate from downtown West Palm Beach, where he had served as Parochial Vicar at St. Ann Catholic Church.