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January 3 – 16, 2015
Spirituality
St. Mary’s Parish one step closer to additional church BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI
With the City zoning process nearly behind him, Father Daniel McBride is anticipating moving forward with his new congregation, St. Juan Diego Catholic Church. It will be part of St. Mary’s Parish, but located near Cooper Road and Markwood Drive. “We’ve been working on this for several years,” says McBride, who is based at St. Mary’s Catholic Church at 230 W. Galveston St., Chandler. “It’s very good. We’re hoping in the next few months to be able to get all the financing and contracts together. We’re looking at having a groundbreaking in the spring.” Plans call for a 10-acre, 22,536-squarefoot building with a church sanctuary, multipurpose social hall, food distribution center, parish program offices and teen center. The regional church will seat approximately 1,200 congregants at a single service, of which there are four on Sundays and one on Saturdays. The rezoning is expected to be approved by the City Council on Thursday, Jan. 8. The parish’s mission is to expand the reach of the South Chandler community, which is multicultural, he says. Parish officials conduct Mass in four languages: English, Spanish, a mixture of English and Tagala, which is spoken in the Philippines, and Swahili. “We say St. Juan instead of San Juan because it’s an English version of the
RENDERING: St. Mary’s Parish expects to break ground on St. Juan Diego Catholic Church this year. Above is a rendering of the building. Submitted photo
Hispanic saint,” he says. The Virgin Mary appeared before Juan Diego in what is now Mexico City and asked him to tell the bishop of his church to build a church on the site where they met. Soon after, Our Lady of Guadalupe was built on that site. McBride has been with St. Mary’s Parish and St. Mary’s Catholic Church for a decade. It’s been a rollercoaster ride for him, but he’s impressed with the dedication of the congregation, which has raised $2.8 million for the new church during a capital campaign started five years ago. “It’s one of the most challenging times to try and raise money,” he says. “It’s really a testament to the breadth of the community. We have everything
from little old ladies who are giving $10 a week, to very wonderful, generous big checks.” To continue raising funds, the parish is hosting the St. Juan Diego fifth annual golf tournament at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 21, at Oakwood Golf Course in Sun Lakes. Generally, McBride says, the event raises $10,000 a year. The land for the church was donated by the Dugan family, well-known dairy farmers in Chandler. Richard Dugan served as mayor from 1988 to 1992. Christina Fuoco-Karasinski is the executive editor of the SanTan Sun News. She can be reached at christina@ santansun.com.
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