[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 26, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E85]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    A TRIBUTE TO HOLY FAMILY CHURCH

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                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 26, 2010

  Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the centennial 
anniversary of Holy Family Church of South Pasadena, California.
  In 1906, land was purchased for the construction of a Catholic church 
and Bishop Thomas J. Conaty assigned Reverend Richard J. Cotter, D.D. 
the task of establishing a new parish in South Pasadena located at El 
Centro Street and Fremont Avenue. On May 10, 1910, seventy-five 
families gathered with Father Cotter for worship in a small cottage at 
the El Centro/Fremont location and called themselves Holy Family 
Parish.
  By the following August, a temporary ``bungalow church'' was built to 
house the growing congregation until funds could be raised for a more 
permanent building. On November 24, 1923, the property at Fremont 
Avenue and Rollin Street, where the church stands today, was acquired 
for construction of a new church. Designed by architect Emmett G. 
Martin, this beautiful house of worship, recognized as one of the 
finest examples of Spanish Renaissance Baroque architecture in Southern 
California, held its first Masses on Easter Sunday in 1928, with the 
formal dedication by Bishop Cantwell following two weeks later.
  Over the decades, many additions and acquisitions were made. The 
parish elementary school opened in 1937, and properties were acquired 
for a parish office, parish hall and buildings for religious education. 
Two mahogany side altars, a magnificent mural and stained glass windows 
were added in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1977, the Oak St. House was 
acquired for the religious education program, and in 1984, the Ramona 
St. House was purchased, followed by the acquisition of two adjacent 
residential properties. By 1994, more space was needed, and the Vision 
Project to build a new ministerial campus was created. The challenge 
was to tear down, remodel or relocate everything but the church. The 
groundbreaking ceremonies took place in June 1997, and the completion 
of the Vision Project was in 2000.
  Over the course of one hundred years, the leadership of Holy Family 
Church has included the Right Reverend Michael J. Galvin from 1922-
1923, Reverend James B. Morris from 1926-1954, the Right Reverend Leo 
Joseph Murphy from 1954-1971, Reverend Monsignor Thomas McGovern from 
1968-1984 and Reverend Monsignor Clement J. Connolly from 1984 to the 
present.
  Since its inception, Holy Family Church has provided spiritual 
guidance and tangible support to the greater South Pasadena community. 
Some of the church's many programs include the Giving Bank, which 
provides direct relief to people in the Los Angeles area facing hunger, 
Detention Ministry, which reaches out to incarcerated youth at Juvenile 
Hall, Infant Care Outreach Program, which serves low-income women and 
families in need, Pastoral Care: Ministry to the Elderly and Sick and 
sponsorship of Boy Scout Troop 333. Church parishioners are involved 
with Dolores Mission in East Los Angeles, serving on their school 
advisory board and tutoring in the after-school program.
  I consider it a great privilege to recognize Holy Family Church upon 
its one-hundredth anniversary, and I ask all Members to join me in 
congratulating the congregation for their one hundred years of service 
to the community.

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