[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 21880]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            CENTENNIAL OF THE ORDER OF THE THEATINE FATHERS

 Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, last Friday, November 10, we 
celebrated the centennial of the Order of the Theatine Fathers in 
Colorado. I want the date of this milestone, so important to my State's 
history and culture, to be noted in the Record.
  The Theatine Order serves parishes across Colorado, from the Sacred 
Heart Parish in Durango and St. Cajetan's Church in Denver to the 
Sangre de Cristo Parish in my native San Luis Valley. The Order has a 
noble history in my State and around the world, where its parishioners 
and pastors have worked to spread virtue and to improve the lives of 
our citizens.
  Saint Cajetan, Paolo Consiglieri, Bonifacio da Colle, and Pope Paul 
IV founded the Theatine order nearly 5 centuries ago in Italy, partly 
in response to the upheavals of the Reformation. In the generations 
that followed, the Theatines established missions in foreign lands, 
building churches and spreading their teachings to places like Peru, 
Borneo, Sumatra, Georgia, and Armenia.
  The Theatines arrived in Colorado at the end of the 19th century to a 
young State undergoing rapid changes. Thousands of new immigrants from 
Ireland, Italy, Mexico, and elsewhere rushed to Colorado's mines, 
farms, and ranches. These immigrants arrived in places like Durango, 
San Luis, and Antonito, and found a centuries-old Hispano culture and a 
deeply rooted Catholic faith.
  As these towns and settlements grew, so too did the demands on the 
parishes of Colorado. In 1906, the Bishop of Colorado, Nicolas Matz, 
seeing a need for more priests in southwestern Colorado, asked the 
Theatine Order to serve Sacred Heart Parish in Durango. The Reverend 
John Licciotti and the Reverend Francisco Maria Blasquez Gomez held 
their first masses in a former schoolhouse, but the structure, and the 
missions in the region, grew quickly. In 1920, the order established 
St. Cajetan's Church in Denver and began staffing the church in 
Antonito. Three years later, the order expanded to San Luis and its 
missions, and later to churches in Fort Collins and Colorado Springs. 
Today, the Theatine Order has 19 priests in Colorado, serving thousands 
of parishioners.
  In honoring the centennial of the Theatine Fathers, we recognize the 
contributions of the order to the parishes and parishioners of 
Colorado, but we also celebrate the contributions of the fathers to the 
culture, faith, and history of our great State. Their work has helped 
bind communities, build schools, and instill virtue, compassion and 
character in our citizenry. The Theatines are pillars in their 
communities, giants who serve the greater good.
  I am proud to honor the Order of the Theatine Fathers and to have 
this opportunity to thank them for their century of service. May the 
virtues that they teach in the towns and churches across the great 
State of Colorado continue to fill our hearts and guide our service for 
generations to come.

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