About
-
-
Parish History
Recognizing the need to serve the area’s burgeoning population, Cardinal Francis Spellman on July 15, 1949, announced that Father John J. Flynn would be the spiritual leader of a new parish and church. Cardinal Spellman obviously had great faith in Father Flynn and area residents because the new parish -named after his own titular Church in Rome, the Basilica of Saints John and Paul- was being established without the benefits of a location, census, or building fund.
Less than two months later on Sunday, September 11, 1949, the first Saints John and Paul masses were celebrated before a congregation of 911 men, women and children. For the next three years, masses were celebrated at the Weaver Street Firehouse. While masses continued at the firehouse, members of the newly formed Women’s Guild, Men’s Club, and Owen Mandeville began negotiations with the Hoffman family to purchase the land for the current Church, school, rectory and convent.
-
BackForwardPauseCaption
-
-
-
Once purchased, the Hoffman house was then converted into the rectory and a stable was refurbished into a Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The chapel was used for the first time on Holy Thursday in 1950. In the fall of 1950, plans began for the church building and the school. In January 1951, a building fund campaign yielded $217,000 in pledges from 950 contributors, exceeding the goal of $150,000. On April 11, 1951-- 19 months to the day after the first masses were celebrated at the firehouse-- ground was broken for both the church and school buildings.
Approximately 14 months later, the buildings were completed and a Solemn Mass of Dedication was celebrated in the completed Church on June 29, 1952.
-
