National Shrine in Washington completed, dedicated (10/17/99)

National Shrine in Washington completed, dedicated

by Irene Jarosewich

WASHINGTON - Parishioners at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family held a double celebration on October 9-10 as the Holy Family Parish marked its 50th anniversary and the newly completed upper church of the shrine building was dedicated and officially opened.

The bright and airy upper church is the product of decades of hard work and commitment, millions of dollars, thousands of hours of effort, and unrelenting vision and faith. Dedicated on the evening of October 9 with a special ceremony and vespers, the church's unique design combines the sparseness and lightness of large white walls, tall open spaces and many windows with more ornate elements traditional to Byzantine-rite Catholic sanctuaries, including icons, embroidered ritual cloths, inlaid wooden crosses and a carved wooden ikonostasis.

The simple and contemporary design of the church, along with objects that reflect the rich heritage of Ukrainian Catholicism, have been combined to create a calm and inspiring space for peace and prayer. The excellent acoustics of the church were demonstrated as the choir from neighboring St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Seminary sang during vespers and both the parish choir and seminary choir sang responses on Sunday during the first divine liturgy to be celebrated in the new space.

On the morning of October 10, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the parish, a pontifical divine liturgy was concelebrated by Archbishop Stephen Sulyk, metropolitan for Ukrainian Catholics in the United States, and Bishop Michael Kuchmiak of the Ukrainian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate in Great Britain. An anniversary banquet attended by close to 500 guests, including former parishioners now living in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Texas and Florida, followed the service.

The history of the parish and the building of the shrine are closely intertwined. The fundraising for, and building of, the shrine actively began more than 25 years ago. However, the parish's first divine liturgy was held June 19, 1949, in a rented chapel. During the first years liturgies were celebrated in several different spaces; by 1960, the first church building committee had been organized.

In 1973 the pastor, the Rev. Stephen Shawel CSsR, suggested the present site on Harwood Road NE - a site near the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and next to St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Seminary - for the parish's church building. Also in 1973, assistant pastor the Rev. Joseph Denischuk CSsR, suggested that the parish's proposed building be more than a local church and should serve as a national shrine in the nation's capital for all Ukrainian Catholics in the United States, an idea that shaped subsequent design and fund-raising efforts.

Located on what is known as Washington's "Catholic Row," the site was finally purchased in 1976 and the lower part of the structure, the Shrine Center that includes the auditorium and meeting rooms, was completed in 1980. The outside of the upper structure, the church, was completed in 1988, in time for the celebration of the Millennium of Christianity in Rus'-Ukraine. And, for the 50th anniversary of the parish, and for the new millennium of Christianity, the inside of the church has been completed.

Throughout many years, many dozens of people put tremendous effort into completing the national shrine, among them the Rev. Denischuk who traveled more than 200,000 miles and visited almost 200 parishes to raise funds for the shrine; Michael Waris Jr., who served as chairman of the Building Committee for 24 years; Miroslav Nimciv, a parishioner and architect who designed the shrine building; the Rev. Thaddeus Krawchuk, CSsR, who effectively managed the parish and shrine-building process through several critical periods; and most recently, Walter Keyes, who took a leave of absence from his job for nine months to manage daily the completion of the upper church structure.

As project manager for the final phase of construction, Mr. Keyes was the driving force behind the final push to complete the inside of the upper church by the end of this year and received several standing ovations during the banquet in acknowledgment of his effort. He joked during his remarks that, whenever he traveled back to his home parish in Pittsburgh, parishioners there would never ask "Hey, how are you, good to see you. How's your wife, your children?"; instead, he said, they would ask, "What's wrong with you down there in Washington, when are you ever going to finish that church?" It was a question no doubt asked by many Ukrainian Catholics throughout North America, not only in Pittsburgh.

Indeed, the building process of the national shrine seemed uniquely plagued with problems. Disagreements about the original design, a split in the parish that resulted in several dozen families leaving, costs that exceeded estimates, fast-paced inflation that devalued collected funds, faulty construction that resulted in a lawsuit, time-delays, and rapid changes in the pastoral leadership of the parish are only a few of the major roadblocks that appeared during the past 25 years.

However, with the full-court press by the Rev. Krawchuk, and most notably Mr. Keyes, during the past 18 months, the goal to finish the shrine by this year was finally met. Mr. Keyes introduced the architect and principals of the firms that helped complete the project: Don Wilson, president, Cardon Construction, Bruce Saylor, president, Saylor Companies, and Najah Abdalla of N.M. Abdalla and Associates.

Also at the banquet, master of ceremonies Deacon Theophil Staruch, who was also general chairman of the 50th anniversary committee, and mistress of ceremonies Aristida Staruch asked parishioners to stand and be acknowledged for decades of membership in the parish. The several dozen parishioners, all well into their 60s, 70s and 80s, who have been members of the parish since its inception 50 years ago received a round of cheerful and resounding applause.

Among the speakers at the banquet were two of the parish's former pastors, Bishop Kuchmiak, the keynote speaker, and the Rev. Denischuk. Both were obviously pleased to be back among their former parishioners, who welcomed both of them warmly. The Rev. Denischuk, known as Father Denny, was genuinely overjoyed. His dream that Ukrainian Catholics should have a national shrine in Washington - a vision that he had championed tirelessly for many years - had at long last been realized. And, at age 80, he had returned to see the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family completed.

| Home Page |