Little Diomede is situated about 50 miles below the Arctic Circle in the middle of the Bering Strait half way between Siberia and Alaska. The Island has long been inhabited by Inupiat people because of its proximity to abundant food from the sea.
      Fr. Bellarmine Lafortune, S.J., was the first Catholic missionary to arrive at Diomede, in June of 1913, though his stay was brief. Fr. Hubert Post, S.J., arrived three years after Fr. Lafortune in 1916. "By this time a fair number of Little Diomeders were already Catholic, having been brought into the Church by Lafortune during their annual summers (stays) in Nome." It was Fr. Lafortune who, in 1935, laid the plans for the first church building on the island. Up to that time the parish had used a small building as place of worship and living quarters.
      Fr. Thomas Cunningham, S.J., was sent to Little Diomede in 1936. He was the first priest to take up residence there. He spent the total of eight years living on the Island between 1936 and 1947. He built the new church building with donated lumber from Nome and dedicated it to Saint Jude. After 1947, Fr. Cunningham visited the Island, weather permitting. Fr. Harold Grief, S.J., served the parish intermittently and Fr. Gerald Ornowski, M.I.C., spent the summer of 1977 there.
      While tenured on Little Diomede, Fr. Thomas Carlin built a new church and living quarters with the help of Brother Ignatius Jakes, S.J. It was blessed by Bishop Robert Whelan, S.J., on March 3, 1979. Fr. Carlin remained as resident priest from 1979 until 1983.
      The Little Sisters of Jesus were also residents at Little Diomede beginning in 1954 up until 1996.
     Saint Jude parish has been regularly visited by priests out of Nome. In winter, an ice run way just off the island allows for the daily transport of passengers from Nome. In the summer, small aluminum boats traverse the distance from Wales to Diomede. When running, the weekly mail helicopter  outy of Nome takes passengers back and forth.