Vol. 2, No. 15 Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Grand Opening!

Sunday we concluded a journey: We celebrated and dedicated the completion of the Conference and Educational Center at Cathedral Square. The four-story building includes the offices of St. Augustine Cathedral Parish and our diocesan Pastoral Center offices.

We celebrated Mass, had the traditional ribbon-cutting and then welcomed guests into the conference center area where I was given the keys to the building, and a massive roll of blueprints (one of four rolls) and thanked the hundreds of people, from the City of Tucson officials that were with us at every step of construction, to our builders, to all of the skilled craftsmen and trade workers. Our architects, Richard Fe Tom and Kegan Tom, from the Architecture Company, did fabulous work combining modern building design and technologies in a building that carries many elements from the surrounding historic buildings.

We heard from City of Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, from Fletcher McCusker of Rio Nuevo, and Cathedral Rector Father Gilbert Malu. John Shaheen, thanks for completing the management of the project so very well.

Our great and heartfelt thanks to Bishop Emeritus Gerald F. Kicanas who has worked tirelessly for the restoration of the Cathedral and its surrounding buildings that now make a beautiful campus of useful, historic and new buildings that certainly enhance downtown Tucson. Thanks also to Ernie Nedder who worked on the enormous task of finding private donors that enabled the success of Cathedral Square.

The 55,000 -square foot building, that stands in the place of a former parish hall, is the last of several buildings that comprise a block of historic and new construction surrounding St. Augustine that now is called Cathedral Square.

Many Kudos . . .

Congratulations Father Domenico Pinti!

Father was named a monsignor by Pope Francis.  He was told the news surrounded by his brother priests Tuesday during the Priests’ Convocation. Our newest Monsignor is a wonderful example of a pastor and a friend whose leadership at St. George is highly regarded.

Congratulations Richard Serrano!

Who received the 2019 Service Award from the National Association of Church Personnel Administrators.

There are priest jubilee congratulations to offer, but I will include those in my next update.

Confirmations

Between Thursday, May 2, and next Wednesday May 8, I will be conferring the Sacrament of Confirmation at the following parishes: San Xavier Mission, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Luke in Douglas, St. Andrew the Apostle in Sierra Vista (this includes Our Lady of the Mountains, Sierra Vista, Sacred Heart in Tombstone, St. Patrick in Bisbee and Our Lady of Lourdes in Benson), and then at St. Ambrose in Tucson.

Downloadable photos for John Paul II Awards

As I reported in the Update last week, we held our Tucson area John Paul II Awards Mass and ceremony on April 13.  Photographs taken of the award winners now are available for download on our diocesan webpage at diocesetucson.org.  Look for the information in the upper right hand column of the homepage, or visit the photos page directly.