St. Catherine of Siena Parish is located in Moscow, Pennsylvania on Church Street near Main Street. It is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church that operates under the Diocese of Scranton. It primarily serves the towns of Moscow, Madisonville, Daleville, and Spring Brook. History According to a history of The Church of Saint Catherine of Siena, which is posted on the organization's website, "The beginning of Catholicism in the North Pocono area predates the existence of St. Catherine's parish" with a significant relocation of Catholics to the area during the mid-1800s for mining and railroad jobs. Initially ministered to by the Rev. Moses Whitty, the pastor of Scranton's St. Vincent de Paul Church (now St. Peter's Cathedral), many of these worshippers then began attending St. Simon the Apostle's, the new church built by Whitty in Dunmore in 1856. The pastor there at this time was Father Edmund W. Fitzmaurice; he was succeeded by Father Michael O'Brien, who died from smallpox a short time later and was replaced by Father Gerald McMurphy. Around this same time, a smaller Catholic church was also built in Moscow. "The site of the church and churchyard was donated to the congregation in 1853 by William E. Dodge and his wife Melissa, owners of an area sawmill." Situated "near the front of the present St. Catherine's cemetery," it was constructed by local carpenter John Simpson and Martin McAndrew, who "built the foundation and walls," and dedicated by "Bishop Neumann (now St. John Neumann) of Philadelphia." In response to the significant growth of the Catholic population in Northeastern Pennsylvania throughout the mid-1800s, William O'Hara was promoted from his position as the pastor of St. Patrick's in Philadelphia to the role of bishop in Scranton. In 1884, Bishop O'Hara officially designated the Catholic community of Moscow as a parish, and appointed as its first pastor, the Rev. M. J. Manly, who became known as "'Shepherd of the Hills' since the parish was considered the Mother Church of the Poconos." The Rev. Richard H. Walsh succeeded Manly in 1889, and was followed by the Rev. Daniel A. Dunne in 1899. "The next pastor was Rev. M. J. Fleming who came to St. Catherine's in 1907 and remained for twelve years." Appointed as the next pastor of St. Catherine's on January 18, 1919, the Rev. Dennis J. Kane inspired the growing congregation during his tenure to raise funds for,