Vietnamese Catholics in Des Moines will now have a religious home.The Diocese of Des Moines in November will set up a parish for the community at St. Peter Worship Center, Bishop Richard Pates announced Sunday.
The church at 618 E. 18th St. is currently part of the Our Lady of the Americas parish and will become a part of the new parish, to be named the St. Peter Vietnamese Catholic Community.
Thoi Dinh, vice president of an elected council that helps represent the community, said the parish is the answer to a request the community has had for several years for a central worship site. With the parish comes Ly Chu, a priest who speaks both English and Vietnamese.
"We never thought we would have a church of our own or a pastor of our own," Dinh said.
"But with how this great deal came along, we got a much better offer from the bishop. It's a lot bigger than we ever expected, but it's a great opportunity for us."
There are approximately 400 Vietnamese Catholic families in the area, Pates said.
The opportunity for the Vietnamese community to have its own parish came after Our Lady of the Americas decided to go from two worship sites to one and chose to keep the Visitation Worship Center at 1271 E. Ninth St.
"The Visitation site was chosen especially because the Holy Family School is there, and that's where the religious education programs are held," Pates said Sunday after a morning Mass at St. Peter Worship Center.
Currently, the Vietnamese Catholic community worships at two locations - the Basilica of St. John and St. Ambrose Cathedral. The St. Peter Vietnamese Catholic Community parish will be the 83rd parish in the Des Moines diocese.
"This is going to become the first-ever home for the Vietnamese community," said Gene Jager, a deacon at St. Peter for nearly 25 years.
"We're going to see a church that welcomes a number of different cultures. It's going to be a great mix."
The new parish will hold its first services on Nov. 30. Pates said he expects one of three Masses to be held in English each Sunday.
The Rev. Kevin Cameron, pastor of Our Lady of the Americas, said it will take $10 per week from 200 Vietnamese families to financially maintain the church.
Recently, a presentation on church finances was made by John Mineart, business manager for Our Lady of the Americas, to about 150 members of the Vietnamese Catholic community.
At the end of that meeting, a vote was taken on whether to move forward with the new parish.
All but one said yes.
During the transition period, Cameron said, Mineart and Our Lady of the Americas will help with logistical problems, and after one year, a review will take place to determine whether the parish is a success.
"If they want to continue, they can," Cameron said. "If it doesn't work for them, then we will figure out what more needs to be done to make it work."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce
(Source: DMR)