St. Mary's Catholic church is the first church in Akahland build in the 40's and became the headquarter of Umuaka parish in 1947, when she seceded from the great Amaigbo parish. The following towns were under Umuaka parish (Nnenasaa Communities): Atta, Okwudor, Umutanze, Amandugba, Amurie and Ekwe. The Parish Priest who lived in Umuaka also conducted church services at St. Theresa Amurie, Christ the King Okwudor, St. Joseph Ekwe, St. Gregory Amadugba, Atta, and Umutanze. The first resident priest of the parish was Father T.J Marking. The establishment of St. Saviours Secondary School made more priests available for the parish, which enabled other towns in the parish to have regular priest in their sunday services, which eventually led to the separation of the towns from Umuaka parish. Other priest that presided in the parish were as follows: Father Hackett & Father White; Father Nwafor & Father Panacky; Father Nwanegbo, Father Buckley, Father Bede Onuoha, Father Ahaneku, Father Oscar, etc.

St. Mary's is situated at centre of Akahland opposite Afor Market, along Orlu Owerri road. The church compound comprises of different building complex: the main church building, Residential building for priests, Maria building (Nne enyemaka shrine), the administration building, The hall and school building. However, the original build of the parish which was used for both school and church services is no longer in use. The current structures of the parish were built after the war with the financial contribution of Akah people.

St. Mary's church has been the centre of worship for the majority of Akah people who are catholic. There use to be three services in the church, at a certain point the building was not enough for the congregation, massive construction work was done in the 80's to expand the building to the very size that it is now. Despite the expansion, the building complex was not containing the increasing number of catholics in the old Umuaka community.

As a result of this phenomenon, mass services were been held in various villages in order to reduce the number of the congregation that would be coming to St. Mary's to worship. As time went on, villages were encouraged to build their own churches which enabled them to have regular sunday services at the comfort of their village. However, Since most of the villages became autonomous communities, their churches gained parish status with permanent priests assigned to them.

However, St. Mary's parish still offers educational services. She runs nursery, primary and secondary school in her compound. Her school services are said to be the best in Akahland. She is at the moment a pro cathedral.