St. Charles Borromeo

St. Charles Borromeo Parish was founded on November 6, 1925, by Bishop Thomas Hickey at the request of Leo Lawson and George Pearson. The new parish began with 72 families, its boundaries stretching from the Genesee River to Mt. Read Boulevard and between Winchester Street and Britton Road, relieving the burden on surrounding parishes including Sacred Heart, St. John the Evangelist, Mother of Sorrows, and Holy Cross.

Having recently returned from his required ad limina visit to Rome, Bishop Hickey designated "Saint Charles Borromeo" as the name of the new church. The bishop, a great admirer of the saint, had spent considerable time in Milan while on his visit, as this was the diocese where Charles Borromeo had accomplished some of his greatest work.

From 1926 until 2008, the parish supported a parochial school that would grow to over 1,000 students, making St. Charles Borromeo for a time the largest parish in the Rochester Diocese and eventually the oldest continuously operating school building in the Town of Greece. Tragedy struck on Holy Thursday, April 14, 1938, when fire broke out in the school. Father Doran fought his way through the smoke to rescue the Blessed Sacrament from the church while firefighters saved the church portion of the structure.

The present church was completed at Easter 1967, and the distinctive steeple that now dominates the skyline was added in 1989. The parish also received the statue of Our Lady from the closed Our Lady of Mercy Parish as a sign of unity in faith. Today, St. Charles Borromeo continues to serve the Greece community as one of the town's most established Catholic parishes.