[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14840]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              100TH ANNIVERSARY OF CHURCH OF THE EPIPHANY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM J. COYNE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 24, 2002

  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to observe the 100th Anniversary 
of Epiphany Catholic Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  The Church of the Epiphany was established when the St. Paul 
Cathedral was moved from downtown to Oakland more than 100 years ago. 
The cornerstone for the new church was blessed on August 10, 1902. The 
boundaries of the old Cathedral parish became the boundaries for the 
Church of the Epiphany's parish. From 1903 until 1906, when the new 
Cathedral was finished, Epiphany served as the interim Cathedral.
  The Church is a beautiful red brick structure built in the Romanesque 
style. It was designed by Edward Stotz at the turn of the last century 
with a pair of twin towers, slate roofs, and terra cotta trim. The 
church design also features several statues from the old Cathedral. The 
interior decoration was designed by John Comes, who designed a number 
of Catholic churches in the Pittsburgh area. Most of the original 
artwork has been preserved and restored.
  Father Lawrence O'Connell founded Church of the Epiphany and was its 
pastor for its first 54 years. He is credited with developing and 
operating parish programs that ably served downtown residents, workers, 
and the many Immigrants who were streaming into Pittsburgh at that 
time. Under his leadership, the parish created and ran a residence for 
working women, a nursery, a home for infants, a home for older 
children, an elementary school, summer camp for under privileged 
children, an athletic association for young men, a prison ministry, and 
other religious, cultural, and education programs. In the first half of 
the 20th century, the Church served a parish of roughly 2,000 families.
  Over time, however, the neighborhood changed. Grand plans for the 
first Pittsburgh renaissance dictated that much of the land covered by 
the parish be converted to new uses. In 1957, much of the Lower Hill 
neighborhood around Epiphany, including church property, was razed as 
part of an urban redevelopment project. Eighteen hundred families were 
relocated, and only 350 parishioner families remained.
  The urban renewal efforts of the late 1950s and early 1960s marked 
the beginning of a difficult time for the Church of the Epiphany. Due 
to declining enrollment, for example, Epiphany School was closed in 
1973--after 70 years of educating children from the community. Against 
all odds, the parish has struggled valiantly to survive under the 
leadership of a series of worthy successors to Father O'Connell. The 
1960s and 1970s were a challenging time, but the congregation of the 
Church of the Epiphany preserved, and the Church carved out a new 
mission for itself in the dramatically different Lower Hill area of 
Pittsburgh.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Father Jim Garvey, the current 
pastor of Epiphany Catholic Church, and his congregation on the 
momentous occasion of the Church's 100th anniversry--and I want to 
share with them my best wishes for the future.

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