Cultural Heritage

Our Cultural Heritage

• St. William parish was established on October 2, 1973. Father Dominick O'Dwyer was appointed Pastor of the newly created parish which was named for St. William of Vercelli. The parish began meeting at Seagate Elementary School and moved several times during its formative years.

• The first Mass was celebrated at Seagate Elementary School on October 7, 1973. By 1974 the parish consisted of 616 families; and by December of 1977, when the site for the church building was approved, Saint William Parish had grown to a membership of 980 families.

• Following a highly successful fundraising campaign, groundbreaking took place on August 12, 1979, and construction was completed in October of the following year. The new church building was dedicated by Bishop John J. Nevins, then the Auxiliary Bishop of Miami, on November 30, 1980.

• In 1982, the Seagate Baptist Church property on Seagate Drive was purchased and later became the home of the Saint William Ministry Center.

• Father O'Dwyer served the parish for nine years until 1982, at which time 1,800 families were registered. Father Neil Flemming became the next Pastor, followed by Father John Rourke in 1992. In 1995, Father Joseph Stearns began what was to be his thirteen-year period as Pastor of Saint William Parish. Under his leadership, the parish continued to grow to 3,200 families.

• In 2008, Father George Ratzmann became Pastor and oversaw the renovation and building of our current church building. The new worship space was dedicated on Dec. 23, 2012, by Bishop Frank Dewane.

• In 2020, St. William embarked on the creation of its Parish Life Center adjacent to the church property. The new community space was dedicated in 2022 by Bishop Frank Dewane.

• In 2023, St. William added an Adoration Chapel at the back east side of the church as a quiet space for Eucharistic adoration.

• Today St. William serves 3200+ families and numerous visitors to the Naples area.

Genealogy of St. William Parish

• St. William was formed from St. Ann in 1973
• St. Ann was formed from St. Martha in Sarasota in 1950
• St. Martha was formed from St. Louis (now Sacred Heart) in Tampa in 1911
• St. Louis was formed from St. Augustine Cathedral in St. Augustine in 1905
• St. Augustine was formed from St. Mary of the Sea in Seville in 1565
• St. Mary of the Sea in Seville was formed from St. Martin, in Castille in 1434
• St. Martin in Castille was formed from St. Cecilia in the Trastevere area of Rome in 668
• St. Cecilia, Trastevere in Rome was formed from St. John Lateran in 472
• St. John Lateran, the very first Christian church to be built was formed in 324
• Prior to the building of St. John Lateran, Christianity was illegal and mass was celebrated in forests, graveyards and private homes.