[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 34 (Tuesday, March 24, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       OUR LADY QUEEN OF PEACE CHURCH CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 24, 1998

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Our Lady Queen of 
Peace Church on its 50th Anniversary as a Church and Parish in the 
Archdiocese of Washington.
  Fifty years ago, Our Lady Queen of Peace was little more than a 
mission of the St. Francis Xavier Church that at the time was said to 
be the largest parish in Southeast Washington. On the eve that it was 
formally announced as a parish, it had no building of its own and was 
in fairly embryonic state. It had been established as a mission in 
March 1943 during the turbulence of World War II by the late Monsignor 
Joseph V. Buckley. If there was a physical edifice to call home, it was 
distributed between three buildings: The City Bank Building, the 
Senator Theater and a small store building, all of which were clustered 
along Minnesota Avenue just below Benning Road. These were indeed 
humble circumstances and remained so for nearly nine years. The 
church's early parishioners, bolstered by their first pastor, Reverend 
James H. Brooks, set to work helping him to build and organize the new 
parish. In January of 1950, construction began on the church and school 
at its present location, the corner of Ely Place and Ridge Road, SE. 
The first Mass of the Eucharistic Celebration was held on December 24, 
1951, in the building while it was under construction.
  Even in that long ago generation, before Queen of Peace had a home of 
its own, its members were founding organizations to address social 
concerns extending beyond the church membership. That membership was 
composed of many converts and non-Catholics who were regular Sunday 
mass worshipers. Many of these organizations are cornerstones of Our 
Lady Queen of Peace and have been active for almost as long as the 
parish has existed. Such groups as the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the 
Sodality, the Parish Credit Union, the Parish Council, the Men's Club, 
the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO), and the Scouting programs fall 
in this category. They have done much to make Our Lady Queen of Peace 
the still ``young, but strong and active'' church that it is. These 
groups, and their activities, encourage brotherhood in the true sense 
of the word both within and outside the parish.
  Since that time, mainly under the umbrella of the Social Justice and 
Community Outreach committees of the Pastoral Council, new 
organizations have emerged in response to the needs of the 
neighborhood-at-large as well as the parish family. One particular 
endeavor the Church recently worked on with the community was to put 
pressure on the city to remove abandoned buildings located on Ridge 
Road SE that had become havens for drug traffic.
  There are now groups and ministries providing real support: food for 
the mind as well as the body. Ministries such as Visitation of the Sick 
and Shut-In, the Community Empowering and Outreach in Public Housing 
and the Reclaiming Our Youth and Mentoring Program are but a few of 
these organizations. There are also ministries such as SOME and SHARE 
that prepare and distribute food for the hungry, the Prison Ministry 
and the Youth Ministry. The HIV/AIDS Ministry of Hope and Love is only 
a few months old and works side-by-side with the venerable St. Vincent 
de Paul Society that has been meeting the needs of the poor in the 
community for its 50 years in existence at Our Lady Queen of Peace.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask this august body to join me in saluting a snapshot 
of this church, itself homeless for more than eight years of its early 
life, yet rooted from the start to build, love and serve families.

                          ____________________