[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 14, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CONGRATULATING FATHER PAUL McDONNELL, PITTSTON CITY'S PERSON OF THE 
                                  YEAR

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 14, 2006

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask you and my esteemed 
colleagues in the House of Representatives to pay tribute to Father 
Paul McDonnell, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Pittston, 
Luzerne County, PA. Father McDonnell was recently selected by the 
Pittston Sunday Dispatch newspaper to receive the title of Person of 
the Year for 2005.
  The honor is due to Father McDonnell's success in building a new 
parish community center to serve all citizens in the Pittston area.
  Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish consists of 2,300 members and is 
showing signs of growth. Father McDonnell recognized in 2002 that the 
church basement, which hosted community events, was no longer adequate.
  He subsequently launched a capital campaign to raise the funds needed 
for the construction project. The design called for the center to be 
physically tied into the church so they looked like one building. The 
plan called for the new center to be supported by the church. But, 
engineers discovered that a large part of the church's foundation had 
collapsed during an earlier mine cave-in and it was remarkable that the 
church over the void was even supporting itself, let alone a new 
structure. The void was filled with concrete and steel and new steel 
supports were designed to enable the church to support the weight of 
the new center.
  The Sunday Dispatch newspaper, in reporting on the opening of the new 
center last year, commented, ``The dedication of the parish center . . 
. was more than just the opening of a building--it was a moving 
testament to faith, an astonishing display of generosity and an amazing 
feat of engineering.''
  Father McDonnell is an exceedingly popular church leader in the city 
of Pittston, PA. Many people believe it is his personality and 
exuberance that has his parish growing while others decline. He is 
especially liked by the elderly. ``In his interaction with the elderly, 
you can see the love they have for him by how they look at him. He 
touches them, he speaks to them, he listens to them and he laughs with 
them,'' the Dispatch wrote.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in congratulating Father McDonnell for a 
job well done. His selection as Pittston Person of the Year is a 
fitting honor for a priest who has captured the admiration of an entire 
community due to his love of fellow man, his warmth and his enthusiasm. 
Truly, Father McDonnell has improved the quality of life in greater 
Pittston.

                          ____________________