Gulf Pine Catholic

Most Holy Trinity breaks ground on new church; eyes 2021 completion date Bishop Louis F. Kihneman visited Most Holy Trinity Parish in Pass Christian on June 14 to help break ground on a new church. At left, the bishop blesses the ground with holy water. At right, MHT parishioner Blu Dubuisson forces his shovel into the ground as the masked pastor, Father Paddy Mockler, flings a clod of dirt into the air. Father Mockler said the goal is to have the new church completed around Christmas of 2021. Photos/Juliana Skelton Gulf Pine CATHOLIC THE DIOCESE OF BIL XI NEWSPAPER Volume 37 > Number 22 www.biloxidiocese.org JUNE 26, 2020 91st Annual Biloxi Blessing of the Fleet PAGE 14 Father George Kitchin celebrates 50 years of priestly ministry BY TERRY DICKSON GAUTIER -- Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there will be no large public celebration to commemorate Father George Kitchin’s 50th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood, at least not for the near future. However, it’s still a milestone worth celebrating, even from a distance. The eldest son of the late Deacon and Mrs. Leon (Effie) Kitchin of Greenwood, Mississippi, Father Kitchin, 77, is one of six children. He was ordained to the priesthood June 13, 1970, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Greenwood by Bishop Joseph Brunini, bishop of Natchez-Jackson. After his ordination, Father Kitchin was sent to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and has been here ever since. He served as associate pastor of Our Lady of the Gulf Parish in Bay St. Louis, Sacred Heart Parish in Pascagoula and Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Biloxi. In 1982, Father Kitchin was appointed the founding pastor of St. Matthew the Apostle Parish in White Cypress. From 1988 to 2002, he served as pastor of St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Ocean Springs. In 2002, he was named pastor of St. James Parish in Gulfport, where he remained until 2014. Since 2014, he has served as pas- tor of St. Mary Parish in Gautier. He is also the current and long- time director of the Diocese of Biloxi’s Charismatic Renewal Program. “My wife, Brenda, and I met young George Kitchin in the mid-1960s when he was assigned to our parish, Sacred Heart Parish in Pascagoula, as a transitional deacon, and later, after his ordination in 1970, as an associate pastor to our parish,” said Deacon Martin Finnegan.. “He would often stop by our home to visit, and he was the one who introduced me to the permanent diacon- ate program in 1975, which had only been recently revived by the universal Church. He guided me through the process of application, and it was through his concern and guidance that I was ordained in 1979, on the same day as his father Leon Kitchin of Greenwood, Mississippi, my classmate. We had established a friendship with Leon and his wife, Effie, during the three years of studies in Jackson. “Meanwhile, Brenda’s sister, Susan, had met and married Fr. George’s brother, John, while both were attending USM in Hattiesburg, which made us ‘family’ as well as friends. We have continued our association and friendship through the years.” Upon becoming pastor of St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in 1988, Father Kitchin hired Deacon Finnegan as pasto- ral associate and director of religion education, which, said Deacon Finnegan, “cemented our relationship on a day-to-day basis.” SEE FR. KITCHIN, PAGE 7 Fr. Kitchin