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Christ the King Parish breaks ground on new cancer shrine
By Andrew Junker, ajunker@catholicsun.org
November 6, 2008
MESA — After years of waiting, the St. Peregrine Cancer Shrine will soon be a reality for those who have lost a loved one to disease or are suffering themselves.
“We’re ready to build,” said Fr. Steve Kunkel, pastor of Christ the King, who has helped oversee the shrine’s planning. “It’s going to happen really soon.”
The parish will break ground on the shrine at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 15 and will begin building two days later.
Alongside Fr. Kunkel when he ceremoniously turns over the earth at the building site will be Melissa Veselovsky, diocesan director for the Healing Through the Body of Christ Cancer Ministry.
The groundbreaking ceremony will feature a number of luminarias outlining the shape of the future chapel. Each luminaria will be decorated with the name of someone affected by cancer.
There will be speakers from the parish, the American Cancer Society and the Knights of Columbus, who were early and generous supporters of the shrine, Fr. Kunkel said.
After the ceremony, the main church will be open for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until midnight.
Veselovsky first suggested that Christ the King turn its proposed chapel into a shrine to the patron saint of cancer patients after a meeting with Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted a couple of years ago. Her cancer ministry group will operate at the shrine, offering information and assistance to anyone in need.
“The chapel will be a place of pilgrimage, hope and life for people affected by cancer,” Veselovsky said. “It’s unique because it helps people on so many levels.”
Not only have parishioners been supportive of the chapel, but the larger community has pitched in, too, Fr. Kunkel said. They know that the shrine is meant for everyone.
“I think everyone has been affected one way or another by cancer,” he said. “I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see that some parishes have gone so far as taking up a second collection” for the shrine’s building fund.
Once the builders begin construction, they have 150 days to complete the shell. During that phase, Fr. Kunkel hopes to raise the funds needed to furnish the chapel.
He said the chapel would likely be decorated in a Spanish mission style. The pews will be custom made, and there will be an altar rail and a high altar on which the tabernacle will be placed.
“The chapel will be open day and night. Visitors may check out a security card in order to gain access during the early morning or late night hours,” Veselovsky said.
“There is also a first class relic of St. Peregrine, a piece of bone, that will not only be available for veneration at the shrine, but may also be borrowed by any parish in the diocese to use in their own healing services,” she said.
If all goes according to plan and the funds are raised in time, Fr. Kunkel hopes for an April or May opening.
Veselovsky estimated that total costs for the shrine to be at about $750,000. As of now, the group and parish need to raise $200,000 more to meet that goal. Donations are accepted via the Web at www.cancershrine.org, and bricks for the shrine that are engraved with the name of a donor’s loved one are still available for purchase.
“This is something the parish has been looking forward to,” he said. “Finally, it’s going to happen.”
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