St. Dominic Parish on Sunday kicked off its 175th anniversary with a Mass celebrated by Bishop John McIntyre.
McIntyre’s first assignment was at St. Dominic, where he served from 1992-95.
Founded in 1849, St. Dominic became the oldest Catholic church in the Northeast upon the closing of St. Joachim in 2013.
McIntyre was joined at the Mass by the Rev. Brian Connolly, parochial administrator at St. Dominic; the Rev. Edward Kearns, former pastor at St. Dominic and now parochial administrator pro tem at Maternity BVM; and Deacon Mark Salvatore.
It was Kearns, then the pastor, who invited McIntyre last year to celebrate the kickoff Mass.
In his homily, McIntyre took the flock back to 1849 and provided some parish history. St. Katharine Drexel attended Mass at St. Dominic and was maid of honor at her sister’s wedding at the church.
At 175, McIntyre said, St. Dominic was founded before the first World Series and Academy Awards ceremony and before the discovery of gasoline.
In 1849, Pope Pius IX led the Catholic Church and Zachary Taylor was president of the U.S., which at the time consisted of 30 states. Francis Patrick Kenrick was bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. And the California Gold Rush was in full swing.
At the Mass, students presented McIntyre with a spiritual bouquet. Connolly thanked the choir, altar servers, Catholic Daughters and Knights of Columbus for assisting in the celebration, which included a reception afterward. ••
