THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 21, 1995 TAG: 9510210264
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
Jennifer Baldon has clearly paid close attention to her religion teacher, for the Star of the Sea School student is well versed in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.
She knows, for example, that the Catholic Church in Virginia traces its origins to its first bishop's 1820 visit to Norfolk's waterfront and that her parish, Star of the Sea, was the first in Virginia Beach.
All the same, Baldon, 12, hung on every word Friday as her pastor, the Rev. William V. Sullivan, detailed the Catholic Church's humble beginnings in Virginia for the edification of 170 Virginia Beach students representing the Beach's three Catholic elementary and middle schools.
Sullivan's lecture-sermon preceded a special children's Mass at Star of the Sea, a prelude to Sunday festivities when Catholics from all 12 Virginia Beach parishes will literally join hands in a 2 p.m. Mass at the Oceanfront church.
Presiding over Sunday's Mass will be Richmond Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, whose 25th anniversary as bishop fortuitously coincides with the 175th diocesan anniversary.
On Sunday, ``the children will be submerged in the crowd, so this is the opportunity to help the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders grasp the history'' of the church in Virginia, the Rev. William Sullivan said.
Christopher Berry, 12, of St. Matthew's School, and Pearl Barrientos, 13, of St. Gregory's School, were definitely enlightened. Neither knew, before Friday, that it was the budding Norfolk parish of St. Patrick's that gave inspiration to Virginia's first Catholic bishop, Patrick Kelly, in his efforts to foster the growth of the church early in the last century.
In the summer of 1820, after an arduous trip from Richmond aboard a tall sailing ship, Kelly arrived in the port city to find a clutch of Catholics giving rise to the first parish in the state.
Kelly returned to Richmond heartened by the enthusiasm of the early Norfolk Catholics and founded a school where he ``began to teach of Christ,'' Sullivan told the rapt students. Kelly did not return to Norfolk that year. ``It was winter, colder,'' and few ships plied the coastal waters during hurricane season, he explained.
The small Norfolk flock flourished and soon erected St. Mary's of the Immaculate Conception. The basilica stands today.
Though effectively landlocked for the winter, the determined Bishop Kelly set about traveling around the state, ``looking, looking for Catholics,'' Sullivan explained. Though he found only ``a family here and there,'' Virginia's first Catholic bishop remained undaunted in his efforts to nurture Catholicism in Virginia.
His work bore fruit, for during the intervening years, the diocese he helped found has grown slowly but steadily, until, today, it boasts 162,743 members. The diocese extends south from Richmond to include Hampton Roads and all of Southeastern Virginia.
One of the area of most-rapid growth in the diocese has been Virginia Beach, Sullivan explained. The state's most populous city has 46,426 registered Catholics.
Like his earliest predecessor in Virginia, Bishop Walter Sullivan has been a moving force in the spread of Catholicism, said the Rev. William Sullivan. Because of the bishop's attention to rural areas, 20 new parishes have risen during his 25 years of leadership.
Star of the Sea marks its 80th anniversary this year. The church, at 14th Street and Pacific Avenue, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, said the Rev. William Sullivan, who took over the pastorship in May. The church is aptly named, he explained, since ``the star is an ocean guide to port for the sailor at sea, and the church is a guide to God.''
But no matter the changes 175 years have seen in Virginia's Catholicism, some things remain the same, he said. ``The pope's initiative still links'' Catholics everywhere. ``He appoints the bishops.'' And celebration ``unites us also to each other, in Virginia Beach to other churches, then other cities, on and on,'' said Sullivan. ``We are united as one body and we're all united with Christ.''
Star of the Sea Catholic Church was enlarged this year to provide adequate space for its growing membership. Father Sullivan invited St. Gregory's and St. Matthew's students to visit the small room that was the original church.
``See how much smaller, how small then, how large today,'' he said. MEMO: Of the 162,743 Catholics in the Richmond Diocese, 46,426 live in
Virginia Beach. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos BY STEVE EARLEY, The Virginian-Pilot
Alison Rehpelz, a seventh-grader at Star of the Sea School,
participates as an altar server in a special children's 175th
anniversary Mass at the Oceanfront church Friday.
Children from the Star of the Sea School at 14th Street and Pacific
Avenue take communion during the special children's Mass Friday.
by CNB