Our Lady of Pompeii Church

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

For the church in New York City, see Our Lady of Pompeii Church (Manhattan).
Our Lady of Pompei Church
Our Lady of Pompei Church is located in Baltimore
Our Lady of Pompei Church
Our Lady of Pompei Church
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Location 3600 Claremont St, Baltimore
Country USA
Denomination Roman Catholic
Website Our Lady of Pompei Church
History
Founded June 1, 1924 (1924-06-01)
Founder(s) Venetian Fathers
Dedicated  ()
Consecrated  ()
Architecture
Functional status Active
Heritage designation For Italian immigrants
Architectural type Church
Style Italianate
Groundbreaking 1923 (1923)
Completed 1924 (1924)

Our Lady of Pompei Church is a parish church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore located in the Highlandtown neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. The church offers services in English and Italian. The feast day of Our Lady of Pompei is celebrated on the first Sunday in October.

History

Our Lady of Pompei was founded as a parish in 1923 in order to serve the Italian immigrant community in Baltimore. Construction of the church began in 1923 and was completed the next year; the first mass was held on June 1, 1924. The church was founded by the Vincentian Fathers. The first pastor and founder was Fr. Luigi Scialdone, C.M..

After spending 17 years of missionary work in the land of China, Fr. Luigi Scialdone, C.M. came to Highlandtown. The archbishop at the time, Michael J. Curley, appointed Fr. Scialdone pastor of the scattered Italian flock. Archbishop Curley reflects on Fr. Scialdone’s work in his letter of April 7, 1934: "He began his work under the most difficult circumstances … The Italian flock was scattered. Very little attention had been paid to them." Work began on January 16, 1923, just as the "Roaring Twenties" were beginning.

Over the next 50 years, Our Lady of Pompei continued to be an anchor in the Highlandtown community. The parish school offered K-12 education and Sunday School. Parishioners enjoyed the feast day celebration and processing throughout the Highlandtown neighborhood and hosted an annual bull roast and summer street carnival.

In the early 1990s, both the parish and the neighborhood were currently experiencing very difficult times. Enrollment in the parish school was declining and families were leaving the city. New realities were setting in - the polarization of the population which consists of two groups, the very young and the very old, the increased presence of transients, and growing financial difficulties for the parish and the people.

In 1991, Our Lady of Pompei made the decision to breakaway from the Vincentian Fathers and join the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Fr. Lou Esposito, pastor since 1984, petitioned Archbishop Keeler to take charge of Our Lady of Pompei. In that letter his Superior General, Fr. Esposito spoke of the decision he made "after a long period of storming heaven and earth." He had the sad duty of requesting the necessary dispensation from his religious vows in order to be incarnated into the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Fr. Lou led the parish in a time of rebuilding.

In 2008, in response to the growing Hispanic community, Our Lady of Pompei began offering mass in Spanish. Fr. Luis Cremis joined the parish, from a mission in Peru, to assist with the expanded ministry. Parish life was reinvigorated! The parish school combined with the parish school of St. Elizabeth's of Hungary to form Archbishop Borders School. This was a K-8 school administered by the Archdiocese of Baltimore operated in the Our Lady of Pompei school building.

Unfortunately, in 2011, then Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, decided to consolidate the Spanish ministry in East Baltimore to one church, Sacred Heart of Jesus (just a few blocks away from Our Lady of Pompei). Archbishop Borders School was also moved to the Sacred Heart of Jesus former parish school building. Not permitted to offer Mass in Spanish, many of the newer parishioners, who made Our Lady of Pompei their home, were uprooted. The Archdiocese's decision crippled Our Lady of Pompei's rebuilding efforts. We were grateful for the group of Hispanic parishioners that remained with Our Lady of Pompei.

The parish was faciing similar problems to the early 1990s - a polarization of two groups, a stable elderly population but a very small number of youths, parish financial difficulties, and decreased participation.

Since 2011, Our Lady of Pompei had been in talks with various organizations to lease the empty school building. The goal was to provide a service to the surrounding community such as an adult learning center or housing for refugees. Unable to secure a use of the building, Our Lady of Pompei, in conjunction with the Archdioses of Baltimore, decided to sell the school building by the end of 2014.

In August 2013, Bishop Madden visited Our Lady of Pompei and spoke with the parishioners. He heard the determination of the parishioners that Our Lady of Pompei is not dead. The message was clear - we require some help from the Archdiocese but we want Pompei to live on! One of the encouraging outcomes with Bishop Madden was discussion to allow Our Lady of Pompei to offer a Spanish ministry again.

As 2014 begins, Our Lady of Pompei has been blessed by some very generous benefactors over the last few years. In addition, the Parish Council has been given rebirth with new members joining. In July 2014, Fr. Lou Esposito, pastor of Our Lady of Pompei, will be celebrating a dual 50th anniversary - 50 years of ordination and 50 years ministering to Our Lady of Pompei.

Our Lady of Pompei is hopeful and excited for the future.

See also

References

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Our_Lady_of_Pompeii_Church&oldid=698502709"