BRAINTREE -- The very existence of someone like Father John Thayer was a scandal in New England in the early days of the U.S.

Father Thayer, a former Protestant minister and chaplain to John Hancock during the Revolution, had become Catholic, serving as the first New England-born priest in the Church's history. He brought the Mass to Boston's North Shore, where Catholic immigrants needed access to the sacraments.

Father Thayer died in 1815, leaving behind a growing population in need of its own parish. In 1826, St. Mary's in Salem became the first Catholic parish in the Archdiocese of Boston outside Boston proper. St. Mary's church building soon became too small to handle the crowds at Mass. A larger church was dedicated in 1858. Wood from the old St. Mary's was used in its construction. Immaculate Conception Church still stands in downtown Salem. It is the oldest church building in the Archdiocese of Boston, where Mass is continuously celebrated year-round. Its bells, cast by men trained by Paul Revere's son, still toll to this day. Parishes throughout the archdiocese, such as Immaculate Conception in Newburyport and St. Patrick in Lowell, branched out from Salem.

On Oct. 25 at 10:30 a.m., Archbishop Richard G. Henning will celebrate a Mass at Immaculate Conception in honor of the 200th anniversary of Catholicism in Salem and on the North Shore. Mass will be followed by a reception and historical presentations at Danversport Yacht Club. Mary Queen of the Apostles Parish, which Immaculate Conception is part of, is looking for other North Shore parishes to share photos, artifacts, and stories from their history. Those photos and stories can be sent to info@mqoa.org.

"Churches were founded in other areas, for which this church was responsible," said Father Robert Murray, pastor of Mary Queen of the Apostles.

He said he is not only a pastor but a preservationist, charged with stewarding a storied church building.

"It's a wonderful challenge to be able to be a leader of a bilingual community and to be able to continue to keep people focused on what's important," he said. "We live in this cultural, historic city and welcome people from all different places to come and experience the love of God in Jesus Christ."

A lot has changed in Salem in the last 200 years. It was once a major port, but as Gloucester and Boston became more popular for international shipping, the city became best known for its colonial and Revolutionary War history. The infamous witch trials of 1692 have become the pillar of its modern tourism industry. Salem has always been an immigrant city, with historic Irish, Italian, Polish, Ukrainian, and French-Canadian Catholic communities. Recent immigration from Latin America, the Philippines, Cameroon, and the Congo has changed Salem's parishes. Mary Queen of the Apostles now has a large Hispanic community.

"They have all, in their time, come here and experienced the same faith they experienced in their home countries, but now slowly have begun to adapt or become culturally integrated into our country," Father Murray said. "And so that's part of I think the richness of the Catholic Church, to celebrate all of those cultural differences."

Nowadays, Salem has become notorious for occult activity. Despite its unusual surroundings, Mary Queen of the Apostles continues to thrive.

"It gives us an opportunity to bring people to the truth of Jesus Christ, to introduce them to Jesus, and to hopefully pull them away from behaviors and actions that could be destructive to them," Father Murray said. "Our mission here is to bring Jesus to everyone."

Halloween brings a tsunami of tourists to Salem each year. Many of them stop at Immaculate Conception. The 200th anniversary Mass will take place when tourism is at its height. When it comes, Father Murray said, the parish's plan will be the same as always: "To be kind to others, to welcome the stranger, and to make sure that we celebrate and pray well, and worship God well, so that whoever comes here will be welcome to participate in that with us."