In September 1936, Fr. George Keefe was appointed founding pastor. Masses were celebrated in the auditorium of then Cretin High School. In April 1937, a building site for a church and school was chosen, at the southwest corner of Randolph Avenue and Albert Street. The property was acquired from an orphanage operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph. The new structure called for church and school facilities; the church was to seat 700 people and the school would have eight classrooms. Excavation of the new building began and proceeded quickly. In September 1937, Holy Spirit School officially opened, followed by a dedication of the church and school in October. On Christmas Eve 1949, a new basement church opened while the upper church was still being completed. The present church is a Lombard Romanesque building with Byzantine-style mosaics and was completed in 1955. The first church still stands and has been incorporated into the parish school.
