A Letter from the Pastor – Our Centennial Celebration Begins!

     The weekend of April 24, 2022, we begin our celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of St. Charles Borromeo Parish.  We will conclude our festivities in April of 2023. Our Centennial Opening Mass will be this Sunday, April 24, at 12:00Noon.  Former associates, sons of the parish, and priests who served here as deacons and interns have been asked to join us.  Ursuline Sisters who have taught here have also been invited.
     Father Anselm Zupka, OSB, our faithful “weekend associate” for fifty-five years will be principal celebrant.  No other priest in our Diocese has been of continuous service, in one parish, for fifty-five years. Father Anselm has been with us for more than half of our parish history!
     Father Frank Walsh, ordained in 1957, will be the homilist.  Father Walsh served here as an “assistant”(that was the term for “parochial vicars” before Vatican II) from 1962 until 1967.  So Father Walsh goes back sixty years in our parish history.
     Father Joshua Cochrac is the General Chairman of our anniversary celebration.  He, and his many committees, have done an excellent job preparing for this day as well as planning the variety of activities that will take place during the next twelve months. (Have you noticed those swanky “St. Charles 100th  Anniversary” banners on the Ridge Road light poles?)
     I was assigned to St. Charles in 1983 when the parish was celebrating its sixtieth anniversary.  At that time, there were still a few folks around who had first-hand memories of parish life in the 1920s;  including the pot belly stoves in the first classrooms and the “outdoor bathroom facilities.”  I also met some members of the original thirteen founding families.  I have always enjoyed hearing the stories about St. Charles’ “early days.” 
     The quick growth and prosperous times of the 1920s gave way to ten years of Depression, 1929-1939.  The founding pastor remembered “Some days we just barely made it” struggling to repay the loans for the initial purchase of property and the construction of the first church and school buildings.  The first Summer Carnival was held in 1932 to help with the original debt. 
     The Second World War, 1939-1945 restored prosperity and also called dozens of St. Charles parishioners to the armed services.  After the war, the veterans returned, married, and many came to Parma to purchase their first homes—especially those Parma bungalows!  From 1950 to 1960, on average, one hundred people moved into Parma every week.  Even though four new Parma Catholic parishes had been created, our school attendance still topped 2,400 students in 1964.
     After forty-four years at St. Charles, the founding pastor, Monsignor Nicholas Monaghan, died in 1967. The focus of his time here was dealing with growth. From the thirteen families of 1923, the parish grew to 5,500 families in the mid-1960s. The purchase of additional property, the construction of new facilities, the building of our beautiful church—all provided by generous and hardworking people who wanted a fitting place to worship, to educate their children, to be of service to those less fortunate, and to enjoy shared faith and good company.   
     It was the task of the second pastor, Monsignor Thomas Corrigan, (1968-1987) to lead St. Charles through times of change. Thanks to the directives of Vatican II (1962-1965), the parish experienced new styles of worship, education, and service. 
     Vatican II challenged the laity to take a more active and responsible part in parish life. The spiritual renewal program “Christ Renews His Parish” energized hundreds of parishioners to new roles: Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, Confraternity teachers, and many other areas of parish and diocesan service. 
     Monsignor Corrigan reached mandatory retirement age in 1987. After consulting with the parishioners, Bishop Anthony Pilla appointed Father John Carlin, as the third pastor.  I had been serving here as associate pastor since 1983.  I had been told in mid-March that I was to be appointed but that it would not be announced until the end of April.  I assembled a list of twenty-four needs that I considered important.
     The most important needs were to establish a functioning Parish Council as well as a responsible Finance Council of talented men and women. Just as important, the parish expanded adult education and spiritual programs, added the Annual Lenten Retreat, enhanced the music and liturgy program, added lay and religious members to the pastoral staff, twinned with a Cleveland inner-city parish, and expanded service opportunities to the hurting and less fortunate. The Day School faculty took responsibility for educating all parish children including those in our PCRF program. 
     Our parish facilities, then twenty to sixty years old, needed attention. We designated each year’s Carnival proceeds to accomplish some major repair, addition, or upgrade.  In the last thirty-five years, we have invested more than three and a half million dollars in roofs, new parking, boilers, energy efficient windows, additional parish offices, Merici Chapel, grounds and garden,  air-conditioning all facilities, and transforming the Lower Hall and the former convent to general parish use, in addition to dozens of other projects. Our Education Foundation was established to guarantee the future of our School. 
     So, now we pause and express thanks for one hundred years of parish life.  We are particularly grateful for those who came before us. Their sacrifice, hard work, and dedication, even in trying times, have given us traditions to keep and examples to follow.
                                                                                

 St. Charles Borromeo!    Pray for us!