SAINT THOMAS CATHOLIC CHURCH
101 Church Street
Potosi, Wisconsin 53820
Phone: 608-763-2671
St. Thomas Parish Organized in 1836
Present church built in 1847
St. Thomas Church is Located on Highway 133 in Potosi, WI
Sunday Mass: 8:00 AM
SAINT THOMAS CATHOLIC CHURCH
FR. MAZZUCHELLI
Samuel Mazzuchelli, born in Milan, Italy, Nov. 4, 1806, descended from a family of merchants and bankers. At age 17, Samuel entered the Dominican Order of Preachers against his father's wishes and at a time when the Order was struggling.
Father Mazzuchelli, at the age of 22, came to the American frontier in 1828, and was assigned by Cincinnati Bishop Edward Fenwick to be missionary priest of the whole of the Northwest Territory.
Father Mazzuchelli traveled the Northwest Territory, from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi and beyond. He traveled by horseback, canoe, and foot, and served native tribes and new immigrant settlers, miners, and farmers, as well as political leaders, Catholics, and Protestants
Many of the local parishes he established exist today, and he designed and built over 24 churches, including our St. Thomas Church. In 1836 when, Father Samuel Mazzuchelli, O.P. came to Potosi, he united area Catholics to form St. Thomas Parish. He built a log cabin church where the St. Thomas parking lot now lies.
In 1993, Pope John Paul II declared Father Mazzuchelli Venerable. This began the process of someday possibly recognizing Father Samuel as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.