Bishop dedicates new wing of Resurrection Mausoleum

By Rebecca Saunders
The Catholic Sun

John McCann visits Resurrection Mausoleum at St. Francis Cemetery in Phoenix every Sunday. He comes to see the grave of his wife who died last October and is buried here.

McCann looks forward to his weekly visits and enjoys the beauty of the mausoleum in which his deceased wife rests.

“It’s enclosed, that’s what I really like about it,” McCann said. “It’s clean all the time and you walk up there and it gives you the feeling that you’d love to say a prayer.”

McCann gathered with many Catholics connected to Resurrection Mausoleum April 1 to witness the dedication and blessing of its new wing by Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted. The newest addition to the mausoleum makes it the largest in Arizona with one of the largest depositories of religious art in the Southwest. Three new pieces of art are displayed in the new wing, including a statue of St. Peter that sits in an area reserved for the burial of local bishops.

“It’s good to have a place for bishops to be buried alongside the clergy and laity of the Diocese of Phoenix,” said Bishop Olmsted. “We are all one in the Body of Christ; both in life and in death, we are the Lord’s. Our cemeteries and especially their works of art remind us to pray for one another, that we may all reach eternal happiness with the Lord.”

The dedication was presided over by Bishop Olmsted and retired Bishop Thomas J. O’Brien, who began the building process for the recently completed wing nearly 10 years ago. The wing also features a mosaic image of the Madonna and a two story bronze relief of the resurrection. Bishop Olmsted reflected on the resurrection art piece in his address to the crowd at the dedication.

“What I love about the resurrection image is that it expresses our own struggle with the resurrection today,” he said of the work of art. “On the lower level you can’t see the risen Christ; you see the two disciples, like us, and so we believe and we can kind of see… and we do see with faith… and that is faith we need at the moment of a death of a loved one, when we ourselves face our own fragility in that we will pass through this door.”

Gary Brown, director of Catholic Cemeteries, felt the dedication was “an extremely important event because it just continues our efforts to provide quality products and facilities to individuals to carry out their faith practice.”

John McCann certainly appreciates Catholic cemeteries’ efforts. The mausoleum is not only the eternal resting place of his wife, but his future earthly home in a grave next to her.

“Mostly I pay attention to what people put on their graves, like flowers,” he said. “On mine I got ‘May God Bless.’”

“It is important to have Catholic cemeteries because it is one of our duties as believers to bury the dead,” Bishop Olmsted said. “In addition, we need to witness to our belief in the resurrection of the body. Beautiful works of art proclaim our faith in eternal life better than words. They help us to enter more deeply into the mystery of Christ’s saving death and resurrection, and thus they strengthen our hope for ourselves and for our loved ones who have passed away.”