Prince of Peace History

Prince of Peace Church is actually the "daughter parish" of Olathe's only other Catholic parish, St. Paul's, which was formed in 1864. In the fall of 1979, Archbishop Ignatius Strecker initiated the formation of a second Catholic parish in Olathe to accommodate the rapid population growth in the area. The parishioners participated in naming the new church by submitting names of interest to the Archdiocese. Archbishop Strecker chose our name. Our Church is dedicated to the Prince of Peace.

Fr. Charles Andalikiewicz was pastor at St. Paul's when asked by Archbishop Strecker to begin the new parish. With about 400 families, Fr. Charles met for Sunday liturgies at Santa Fe Junior High. Two years later the expanding parish family moved its temporary church to Tomahawk Elementary School. Meanwhile, land was purchased at 143rd and Brougham and a building program began. Actual work on the new church-school complex began with groundbreaking ceremonies on September 30, 1984. Archbishop Strecker blessed the site with hundreds of parishioners in attendance for the celebration. Construction continued for more than two years. On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1986 at 5:00 pm, the doors of Prince of Peace Catholic Church opened for the first time to welcome the parish family to its first Mass in the new Church!

With continued growth, in 1996 construction was completed on a beautiful, new 1,200 seat Church. The Church was dedicated by Archbishop James P. Keleher on August 18, 1996. The former church was turned into the school gym, and a second floor was added to the school. In 1998, a pre-school was added to the Church, The Early Education Center (EEC). The basement of the new church was finished, and is now our Parish Hall/school cafeteria. It also has meeting rooms and additional classrooms. Finally, in January 2003, construction was completed on a wing addition for the parish school and in 2007, another addition to the school was complete.

Prince of Peace is the largest parish in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas with over 3,400 parish families. Our parish school has an enrollment of over 550 students, the parish pre-school has approximately 120 children enrolled and our School of Religion is a program 1,200 students strong. We have many church programs, organizations and ministries that make for an active, vibrant church community. We welcome you to our ever-expanding church family.