Dedication of new pastoral center for Phoenix Diocese draws 2,000

Published: 2003-10-20

PHOENIX (CNS) -- Nearly 2,000 people joined local church leaders and employees of the Phoenix Diocese Oct. 11 for dedication events officially marking the opening of the new diocesan pastoral center. The day featured a Mass to dedicate the center's chapel, the dedication and blessing of the plaza between the center and St. Mary's Basilica, tours of the building and a concert by Catholic Christian recording artist Kathy Troccoli. Retired Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien and Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe, N.M., apostolic administrator for the diocese, celebrated a private Mass for friends and supporters of the new center. The Mass was an opportunity for the diocese to thank individual supporters and corporations who made the $15 million, 80,000-square-foot campus and center a reality. Although more than 100 diocesan employees have been working in the center since April, this was the first opportunity the general public had to experience the renewed Catholic presence in the heart of Copper Square, as downtown Phoenix is known.

Copyright (c) 2003 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .