Archbishops, priests come home for parish’s 75th anniversary

Deacon Jeffrey Powell, left, and Archbishop Charles C. Thompson elevate the Eucharist during the 75th anniversary Mass on June 28 for Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in New Albany. Also pictured are Seattle Archbishop Paul D. Etienne, middle, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, second from right, and Father Joseph Feltz, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish. (Submitted photo by Olivia Castlen)

By Olivia Castlen (Special to The Criterion)

NEW ALBANY—Hundreds of parishioners and friends of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in New Albany came together to celebrate the faith community’s 75th anniversary on June 28.

An anniversary Mass drew several priests and three archbishops, including Indianapolis Archbishop Charles C. Thompson, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori and Seattle Archbishop Paul D. Etienne. Archbishop Lori is a son of the parish, and Archbishop Etienne is a former pastor of the parish.

In its 75-year history, the parish raised nine priests (including Archbishop Lori), two permanent deacons and one religious sister.

Noting the parish’s abundance of vocations in his homily, Archbishop Thompson said, “The parish has nurtured some wonderful vocations, including these two archbishops before us and these priests before us.”

Among the priests in attendance was Holy Cross Father Geoffrey Mooney, a son of the parish and alumnus of the school who now serves at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis.

“I wasn’t going to miss a big event like this,” Father Mooney said in an interview following the liturgy.

“I grew up here and spent the first 18 years of my life in this parish. This was the seed of my priestly vocation,” he said. “It’s a faithful community that supports me.”

For Archbishop Lori, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish is “family,” he said in an interview following the Mass.

“This is the parish of my childhood. It has wonderful memories,” he said, noting that he “made lifelong friends” and received his “foundation of faith” in the parish.

“Although I’ve traveled far and wide, it remains a spiritual home for me,” he said.

For Archbishop Etienne, who served as pastor of the parish from 1998 to 2007, the event brought to mind memories of celebrating the parish’s 50th anniversary in 2000, he said in an interview following the Mass.

The parish helped form him as a priest, he said, noting that the “great people” of the parish possess a “strong faith.”

“They helped form me, and no doubt, a lot of the things that I learned from them, while I was here, I am applying now as an archbishop,” he said.

Acknowledging that 75 years is “a worthy milestone to celebrate,” Archbishop Thompson told the congregation gathered for the Mass that the parish is relatively young compared to several older parishes in Indiana.

“From the perspective of the universal Church, it is still in its embryo state, so to speak,” he said in his homily, noting “there is still much possibility and potential to be realized.”

The “vibrant parish” is “wonderfully situated to be a beacon of hope,” he added. “Our task today, as in 1950, is to be intentional about living our faith in such a way as to carry forth the mission of Jesus Christ in transforming the world, bringing about the kingdom of God.”

Several current parishioners remember the founding of the parish and its school—a testament to its relatively brief history.

Longtime parishioner Carol Knight—a cousin of Archbishop Lori—takes pride in being part of the parish school’s first fourth-grade class, she said in an interview prior to the Mass.

Knight recalls the parish’s original church, and she and her husband were one of the last couples to be married in the previous church, she said. The present church was built in 1967, and the site of the original church, built in 1950, is located in what is now the school’s cafeteria and kitchen.

“I’ve always felt at home here,” Knight added.

Similarly, parishioner Ray Day has been immersed in the parish since its founding, he said in an interview before the Mass.

“My parents were one of the first 300 founding families, so I’ve been here for 75 years,” he said. “I was even a server for [Archbishop Paul C. Schulte] the day he laid the cornerstone for the original church building.”

Now, his grandchildren are fourth-generation parishioners. Taking after his parents, who “were just involved in everything” at the parish, Day, his daughter and his grandchildren are still actively involved in the parish’s life and ministries, he noted.

Most recently, Day and his daughter Jennifer Martin designed and donated an aluminum icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help for the parish’s anniversary. The icon was permanently mounted on the parish’s bell tower on June 17.

“God kept me around here till age 86 for some reason,” said Day. “It’s stuff like this that just makes me so joyous—that I was able to be a part of the Catholic community of New Albany, Indiana, for all these many years.”
 

(Olivia Castlen is a reporter for The Record, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Louisville, Ky.) †