METRO AREA — For four local Catholic parish communities, the warm months of 2012 have come with many warm memories of parish life over the years.
These four parishes — each having made unique contributions to the Church of Detroit — marked milestone anniversaries the past two weekends:
St. Mary in Wayne
Archbishop Allen Vigneron joined the people of the parish and a number of priests who have served it over the years in a Mass to celebrate that anniversary June 3.
In his homily, the archbishop emphasized the parish’s long tradition of offering the sacraments, telling the congregation, “The real point of my coming today will come in about 10 minutes, when I say, ‘Lift up your hearts.’”
He said the people of the parish should express their “gratitude to God for the graces He has poured out on all the generations who have worshipped here.”
St. Mary Parish — St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Parish, to give its full name — has been a presence in western Wayne County for 150 years.
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By the late 1850s, the Catholic families who had settled in the area began gathering for worship in a local general store. In 1862, Bishop Peter Paul Lefevere established St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Mission for the, by then, 45 families to be served by the pastor of St. John Parish, Ypsilanti.
The mission completed its first church in 1873. It became a parish in 1912, and the current church dates to 1923.
“This has been a wonderful parish to belong to. There’s a wonderful sense of family here, and it has always felt that way to me,” Cathy O’Boyle, a member since 1989, said after the anniversary Mass.
And St. Mary School is a very good school to go to, said her son, Kyle, 10, a fourth-grader there.
Julie Strieter said of Fr. David Burgard, the parish’s pastor, “Fr. David’s a wonderful shepherd to our St. Mary’s flock.”
Parishioner Mike Lorenz said, “I am thankful to have an environment where my child has an opportunity to learn and have a relationship with the Lord — and Fr. David really brings that together.”
Fr. Burgard described St. Mary’s people as “very down-to-earth and very open and welcoming.”
He said he values the fact that the parish has a school, and that the school has 245 students.
St. Owen in Bloomfield Hills
During its half-century of existence, St. Owen Parish has established a tradition of Christian Service outreach that includes its own community, and also reaches beyond it to help the poor in the Caribbean.
The parish built a clinic in the Dominican Republic during the pastorate of Fr. Clifford Ruskowski (1999-2007), and continues to send a team there every year with medical supplies.
Fr. Ruskowski was among the former pastors and associate pastors who returned to St. Owen last Sunday to help the parish celebrate its 50th anniversary.
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“It’s a wonderful parish to serve at,” said Fr. James Cronk, who has been St. Owen’s pastor the past three years.
“There is such a spirit of volunteerism; people just step forward and help out in any way they can,” Fr. Cronk continued.
The parish was launched in 1962, holding services at Wing Lake Elementary School until its first building — now the parish center — could be built. The current church was built in 1969.
Joseph Pero, a member for 36 years, said, “I think it’s been a great parish to belong to. The people are very friendly, very caring.
“My wife, Peggy, and I are both from midtown Manhatten, and had always been apartment-dwellers before, but we were welcomed into this Midwestern community when we came here in 1976.
Kelly Lutinen said St. Owen is a very vibrant parish, with lots of young families and people of many nationalities.
She and her husband, Lindsey, first joined the parish in 1996 for several years, and have been back as members since 2007.
She said she has valued the parish’s religious education program, in which she is a catechist, and it has been a good parish for her four children.
St. Martin de Porres
in Warren
In 1962, Cardinal John Dearden authorized a new parish in Warren, and the cardinal-archbishop is memorialized in the name of the sidestreet that borders the property.
St. Martin de Porres Parish, at Hoover Road and Dearden, marked its first half-century June 3, with an anniversary Mass celebrated by Archbishop Vigneron.
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Serena Beechler has been a member for all of its 50 years, her parents having been among the founders.
“I was in the last group to make my first Communion in the old church back in 1967, and my brother Brian was among the first to make his in the new church the next year,” she said.
Beechler said the parish has always been inviting, and its current pastor, Fr. Roman Pasieczny “does a lot for this parish.”
John Gruckunas, on the other hand, was baptized there a year ago: “This is an awesome parish. People made me feel at home, like this is a family.”
Fr. Pasieczny said parish membership has been aging, but there are also young families, with 400 children in religious education.
“I’m grateful to God for my 12 years here, and being able to serve the people and follow the example of St. Martin de Porres,” he said.
St. Kieran in Shelby Township
The area abound Mound and 24 Mile roads was still largely farmland when St. Kieran Parish was founded in 1962.
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By its silver anniversary in 1987 suburban development had been sufficient to give it a membership of 2,000 families, and the past quarter-century has seen that grow to 3,000 families.
Archbishop Vigneron celebrated Mass last Saturday, June 9, to mark the parish’s 50th anniversary, joined by many of the priests who have served the parish over the years.
“I’ve never had a bad parish, but this is an excellent parish and has been a lucky place for the priests who have served here,” said Fr. Thomas Johnson, St. Kieran’s pastor for the past 16 years.
“The people here are very welcoming, and are known for their hospitality,” he continued.
Fr. Johnson said he is particularly proud of SKY (St. Kieran’s Youth), the parish’s 200-member youth group, the success of which he attributed to founder Patricia Radacsy.
“We always have the biggest contingent every year at Rainbow,” he added, referring to the annual Catholic Youth Organization gathering.
Stacey Sobetski said returning to St. Kieran Parish five years ago was like returning home. In fact, she was returning to the parish where she grew up and she and husband, Dave, were married.
Now, the Sobetskis are raising their two children at St. Kieran. “The people are friendly, and there are programs for the kids. Working on the historical displays for the anniversary has really taken me back,” she added.
