Saint Pius X Church (Middletown, Connecticut)

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Saint Pius X Church
St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church
Location	310 Westfield Street Middletown, Connecticut
Country	United States
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Founded	March 05, 1957
Consecrated	April 12, 1959
Administration
Parish	St. Pius X Parish
Diocese	Norwich
Province	Hartford
Clergy
Archbishop	Most Rev. Leonard Paul Blair
Bishop(s)	Most Rev. Michael Richard Cote
Vicar(s)	Rev. Scott Surrency, OFM Cap.
Pastor(s)	Rev. John Gallagher, OFM Cap.
Laity
Organist(s)	Andrew Berezowski, Gail Saltus, Michelle C. Donahue

St. Pius X is a Roman Catholic church in Middletown, Connecticut, part of the Diocese of Norwich.

History

In the late Spring of 1956, the Capuchin Friars New York/New England Province decided to create a novitiate home in Connecticut for their lay brothers. A member of the provincial board reached out to Bishop Bernard Joseph Flanagan who was the Bishop of Diocese of Norwich at that point in time. The discussions between the two men led to the creation of a new parish in the growing Westfield section of Middletown which led to the purchase of 16 acres of land by the Diocese from the Donahue Family. On March 05, 1957 the new Parish was established under the patronage of Saint Pope Pius X the name of the new parish was chosen by Bishop Flanagan himself because of the Saint's devotion to the Eucharist and active participation in the Mass. An official groundbreaking ceremony toke place that July and the church had a temporary rectory located on Ballfall Road in 1957 this was under the leadership of the first called Pastor and Assistant Pastor, Rev. Walter O'Brein, OFM Cap. and Rev. Augustine Konzer, OFM Cap. The first Pontifical Mass of the Church was celebrated up the street at Spencer Elementary School on April 28, 1957 and the Church was made up of the Church worship space and a Friary.

Expansion

In 1970, the Capuchin brothers were transferred to Saint Lawrence Friary in Milton, Massachusetts and the Parish bought the Catholic Information Society building from the order for $133,000 and investing $40,000 more in renovations to allow them to build eight classrooms that the Parish could you to teach students religion classes on Sunday. Before this purchase, the Parish had to rely on the Middletown Board of Education who allowed them to use classrooms at the local Spencer School.

Bill Fortin Memorial Hall

The Parish's Church Hall officially known as the Bill Fortin Memorial Hall was named after Mr. William "Bill" Fortin who for 31 years served the Parish community of Saint Pius faithfully. He served as the Parish Maintenance Person but he did so much more than this and was a very dedicated soul. The hall was dedicated in his name on June 16, 1995. A month after Fortin's death.

List of Pastors of Saint Pius X Church

There have been a total of 11 Pastors to serve the Parish since it's founding:

1. Rev. Walter O'Brein, OFM Cap. (1957-1964)
2. Rev. Peter Claver Eich, OFM Cap. (1964-1970)
3. Rev. Gregory Reisert, OFM Cap. (1970-1976)
4. Rev. Christopher Dietrich, OFM Cap. (1976-1981)
5. Rev. Kieran Ahearn, OFM Cap. (1981-1984)
6. Rev. David Bona, OFM Cap. (1984-1990)
7. Rev. Richard Donaldson, OFM (1990-1995)
8. Rev. Frederick Nickle, OFM Cap. (1995-2002)
9. Rev. Robert Abbatiello, OFM Cap. (2002-2008)
10. Rev. Gerard Mulvey, OFM Cap. (2008-2011)
11. Rev. John Gallagher, OFM Cap. (2011-Present)

External links

• Official site
• Diocese of Norwich

References

This article "Saint Pius X Church (Middletown, Connecticut)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Saint Pius X Church (Middletown, Connecticut). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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