Parish History

Our parish grew out of a traditional Catholic Latin Mass community lead by Fr. James Reichmann, SJ. At that time, weekly Sunday Masses were said in Latin at the St. Joseph Chapel at the Josephinum in Downtown Seattle, Washington.

North American Martyrs Parish was established on September 28, 2008, when Archbishop Brunett invited the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) to Seattle. Fr. Gerard Saguto was our first pastor. After being established, North American Martyrs Parish offered its Masses at St. Alphonsus Parish in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, with the exception of a single Low Mass every Sunday at Holyrood Cemetery in Shoreline. Because of the demands of time and space, Holy Week was offered annually in the chapel at Bastyr University in Kenmore, which was formerly St. Edwards Seminary. 

On September 30, 2018, our parish celebrated its 10th anniversary at St. Alphonsus with Archbishop J. Peter Sartain in attendance. Nearly a year later, North American Martyrs purchased a former Lutheran church building and property in Edmonds, WA, which has become the permanent home for the parish. In November 2019, after some renovations, the parish was officially able to move in. On November 23rd, 2019, Archbishop Paul D. Etienne visited to bless the new church. 

The current pastor is Fr. John Shannon and the parochial vicar is Fr. Caleb Insco. Please pray for our priests, as well as other priests who have lead our parish.