Parish Update September 20, 2022
A few weeks ago, Bishop Nevares contacted me and asked if Blessed Sacrament would be able to "host" the Croatian Catholic Community for their celebration of the Holy Mass on a few Sundays each month. After consultation with the Pastoral Council and staff, there was unanimous support for this endeavor.
The Croatian community had been celebrating the Mass at a different location in Scottsdale but are no longer able to do so. We met with the leaders of the community and are very happy to offer the use of our campus as this is a wonderful opportunity to reach out and include the Croatian Catholic community within our beautiful worship spaces. They are overjoyed at the prospect.
The Croatians will celebrate their liturgy on the 1st and 2nd Sunday of each month beginning 2 October. Their Mass is scheduled to start at 11.30a and conducted in their native language by their own clergy (who fly in from California or Chicago and return the same afternoon as they have no priest in the Valley.) Our current English Mass schedule will not change. On the other Sundays of the month, they have been welcomed to join our liturgies and as they are fully Roman Catholic, their participants can be involved in parish ministries as well. They will also use the hall for gatherings after Mass when requested.
More information about the Croatian Community will be forthcoming in the bulletin.
It's wonderful to be able to extend our generous hospitality at Blessed Sacrament to this group of devoted Catholics who reside in the Valley. The rich tapestry that is our Church becomes even more colorful when it comes from other cultures. As a universal Church, our liturgies and our faith can be strengthened when we "go out to all nations" (Matthew 28:19-20).
Some of our parishioners may remember when they gathered at the local high school because there was no church at Blessed Sacrament; how wonderful it is for us to be able to return the favor to a fledgling group (about 200-400 people) and share our beautiful facility so that they can celebrate the Mass in God's house.
Neka Bog i dalje blagoslivlja vas i vasu obitelj (Croatian)
May God continue to bless you and your family.
Croatian Catholic Community in Arizona 2022 - Historical Review
This is an important event for our Croatian Catholics in Arizona. We are very grateful to the parish of Blessed Sacrament for meeting our needs by letting us use their parish church to celebrate Holy Mass in the Croatian language.
Our Catholic Mission in Phoenix started 1990, 32 years ago. Cardinal Franjo Kuharic, the archbishop of the diocese of Zagreb, Croatia visited Arizona. He talked to bishop Thomas O'Brian about starting a mission for Croatian Catholics.
The mission is governed by the church Committee elected every two years. Members of the committee: President, Vice president, secretary, recording secretary, treasurer, three trustees and action committee.
Even before the official start of this Mission, Croatian priests occasionally celebrated Mass for us in Phoenix. As the Croatian community in the Phoenix area grew there was a need for a comprehensive spiritual care of the faithful, which occasional visiting priests could not fulfill.
The Mission started 1st Sunday of January 1999 with Mass celebrated at St. Mary's Basilica in Phoenix by Fr. Petar Vuletic, assistant pastor at St. Anthony's Croatian parish in Los Angeles CA,. He was assigned to be our missionary and as he remained assistant pastor at St. Anthony's parish. It was decided that we have Holy Mass once every month and on Christmas and Easter at The Basilica.
When Fr. Mate decided to have masses twice a month, the new pastor of the Basilica could not accommodate the need. We had to look for another church for our Mission. The Diocese offered us an old mission church, St. Pius the Tenth, on S. 7th Ave, in Phoenix. The church needed a lot of repairs and improvements but our community made the church acceptable for use . The Croatian Mission moved there having two masses a month.
In mid July of this year, we were informed by the Diocese that St. Pius would be used for the new evangelization of the African community and the Croatian community needed a new home.
We are very honored to be able to join your wonderful community at Blessed Sacrament.
May God bless you and reward you for the good you are doing!
Your brothers and sisters in Christ,
Croatian Catholics