Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine CATHOLIC THE DIOCESE OF BIL XI NEWSPAPER Volume 36 > Number 20 www.biloxidiocese.org MAY 31, 2019 Priestly ordination of Braxton Necaise scheduled for Saturday at Nativity Cathedral PAGE 24 Eight men to be ordained permanent deacons on June 22 PAGES 6 & 7 NormCantrelle MardoMagana Earl Saucier RobertWescovich SeanFink TyroneNecaise Bill Stentz JohnnyWilliams Eight tobeOrdained To the PermanentDiaconate Saturday,June22 NativityBVM Cathedral Biloxi 10:30a.m. Dedication of St. Fabian Parish multi-purpose center set for June 4 BY DAVID TISDALE HATTIESBURG - After the vision was set nearly six years ago for Saint Fabian Catholic Church, the reality of the phys- ical structure to house this faith community is now in plain sight. The 15,000-square-foot facility, off of Highway 589 and Valley Lane in Lamar County, will be dedicated at a Mass set for Tuesday, June 4, at 6 p.m. After being estab- lished as a parish in 2014, Mass was held on Saturdays and Sundays at Benedict Day School, also located on Highway 589. Saint Fabian’s founding pastor, Father Tommy Conway, said the parish center can accommodate 600-800 people for services, and once the tran- sition from St. Benedict Day School takes place, more Masses will be held throughout the week, as well as religious education and programs for youth, among other activities. Plans for an earlier dedication Mass in January had to be scrapped, as months-long inclement weather since then prevented paving for parking and roadways at the property, until just recently. With most of that work near- ing completion, the transition from St. Benedict Day School to the Parish Center as the site for Masses was able to proceed for the weekend of May 25-26, as well as a wedding. “After many fundraisers, through the support of gen- erous donors in our area’s Catholic community and all of the work by our parishioners and others that has gone into making Saint Fabian a reality, it’s wonderful to now see the fruit of our labors,” Father Conway said. “We’re very excited.” In 2006, the late Dr. Richard Fabian McCarthy, and his wife, Katherine, donated 26 acres of land at the site for the purpose of building a church. Seed money for the new parish was raised during an earlier pledge drive held by members of the Catholic community of Hattiesburg. Father Conway, who previously served as pastor of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Hattiesburg, was chosen by then Bishop Roger Morin to lead Saint Fabian’s develop- ment. The population boom of Lamar County and west Hattiesburg, along with the large number of Catholics in this area of the Pine Belt, prompted the decision to estab- lish the parish. Bill Holland and Frank Lombardo serve on the parish building committee. With both being on site nearly every day during the construction phase, their perspectives on phase one of the project nearing its con- clusion are more intimate than most. “It’s been a long time com- ing,” Holland said. “We had pretty normal weather for the construction phase, but not for the grading and paving.” He anticipates the base paving work to accommodate parking and traffic at the site should be about 80-90 percent complete by day of the dedication Mass, weather permitting. Other work for the parking areas will include filling and landscaping for the parking lot islands, with a final travel sur- face paving to be done at a later date. Lombardo said the past delays are -- literally and figuratively -- “water under the bridge.” “Our congregation is more than pleased and happy to now have our own facility, and for everyone associated with this whole process, it’s been a labor of love,” Lombardo said. “We’re really excited for this day to be here, despite the hurdles. We’re right where we need to be.” For more information about Saint Fabian Catholic Church, visit http://www.saintfabian.com/. Crews continue their work paving parking areas and roadways at the site of Saint Fabian Catholic Church in Lamar County, Friday, May 17, after nearly five months of delays due to inclement weather in the area. A dedication Mass for the church is scheduled for Tuesday, June 4, at 6 p.m. Photos by David Tisdale