Parishes prepare anniversary celebrations
Upcoming Masses mark jubilee year

By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
June 7, 2007

Parishioners at two local churches are putting the finishing touches on plans for a special Mass marking their anniversary.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Tempe will celebrate its 75th jubilee Mass and reception June 10 while St. Maria Goretti Parish in Scottsdale will honor its 40th anniversary with a Mass and reception June 24.

Each parish is an original member of the Phoenix Diocese, which is two years shy of turning 40. Event organizers at both parishes invite past and present churchgoers to attend the celebration Masses. Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted will celebrate both liturgies.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

“It’s a time to celebrate and be grateful for what we’ve been given,” said Fr. John Bonavitacola, pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

The parish has a rich history spread out over three places of worship around Tempe during the past 75 years.

Fr. Bonavitacola is excited to see many of the parishioners who helped build the current church in the ’50s and ’60s return for the jubilee Mass. He said they will see how the church that was once twice the size of its congregation in 1968 has filled out.

More than 2,000 families of all ages now call the parish home. The pastor sees his congregation as a “nice mixture” of the older generation, Catholics who work at Arizona State University and younger families.

“The newer generation gets to also participate in the building of the parish because we’re renovating the church and some of the parish grounds, so they’re able to contribute to it,” Fr. Bonavitacola said.

The most recent upgrade includes an outdoor Marian shrine with shaded bench seating. Bishop Olmsted will dedicate the shrine after the jubilee Mass.

Following the Mass, guests and parishioners will continue celebrating the church’s anniversary at a banquet. A string quartet whose members belong to a parish family will provide the evening’s music.

“It will be a very festive event,” said Kirk Mahoney, one of the more than 250 parishioners involved with the jubilee celebration.

Organizers invited hundreds of past parish leaders to the banquet including retired sisters who once taught at the school. It will be held at Tempe Mission Palms Resort.

St. Maria Goretti

Parishioners at St. Maria Goretti Church in Scottsdale will celebrate its 40th anniversary “to show gratitude for God, for the parish and its life,” said Fr. Doug Lorig, pastor.

He described how the founders built the church to resemble a large tent. The structure served as a reminder of the Israelites who lived in tents during their 40-year journey from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land.

“We’re all on a journey to God and to heaven,” Fr. Lorig said. The anniversary Mass will help parishioners honor that.

Former pastors will help Bishop Olmsted celebrate the liturgy. Additionally, organizers invited former musicians to aid the worship experience.

“Since we have our newly restored organ, it will be eclectic,” said Ann Weiss, music and liturgy director. The church is well known in the diocese for its recently restored pipe organ, which was dedicated more than 30 years ago.

Churchgoers will hear both classical music and a full rhythm section during the anniversary Mass, Weiss said. They are invited to a reception in Piper Hall following Mass where past and current parishioners can reminisce.

They can discuss the church’s early days of worship at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, its changing boundaries to accommodate diocesan growth and the parish’s large stained glass windows purchased in 1979 with bingo money.