YOUNGSTOWN — St. Anthony of Padua Church in Youngstown has marked a special milestone of 125 years in the community.

Monsignor Michael Cariglio, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Basilica and St. Anthony of Padua since 2012, said Bishop David Bonnar joined the parish members earlier this month to mark the 125-year milestone, with celebrations beginning last summer on the Feast Day observance.

The church is located on Turin Avenue in the Brier Hill neighborhood of Youngstown, where many Italian immigrants settled. The church, established in 1898, is among the oldest Italian churches in northeast Ohio. The Brier Hill area in the 1990s was named the most historically significant neighborhood in Youngstown.

The original St. Anthony Church was established in June 1898 by Bishop Ignatius Horstmann, bishop of Cleveland, as a church to serve the Italian-speaking immigrants in Youngstown.

The church has become known over the years for its food prepared by the parish members, including Brier Hill pizza, Easter bread, spaghetti dinners and Italian sausage. The parish has more than 200 members.

Over the years the church, which sits on a hillside, has seen renovated and remodeled.

The present St. Anthony Church building was completed in 1958. St. Anthony School opened in 1959 and was staffed by the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus until its closing in1995 because of declining enrollment. In 2011, St. Joseph the Provider Catholic School relocated from Campbell to the St. Anthony school site.

In 2012, St. Anthony of Padua Church merged with Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church near downtown Youngstown to form Our Lady of Mount Carmel Basilica / St. Anthony of Padua Parish.

“It has been a genuine and meaningful priestly experience for me to serve the people of St. Anthony of Padua. We have accomplished much in these 11 years together. I have noted that the faithful of St. Anthony’s have remained dedicated to the family and are very sensitive to those in the community who are in need,” Cariglio said.

Bonnar, who was at the Jan. 13 Mass, said for 125 years, St. Anthony of Padua Parish has been “a strong living presence of Jesus Christ, a community of committed Catholics providing an environment for people to encounter Jesus Christ.”

“St. Anthony Parish has been a gift to this local church, which keeps on giving. I am grateful to the many hands and hearts, too many to mention, that have brought the light of Christ to this part of the world,” Bonnar said.