Sts. Peter and Paul Parish celebrates Golden Jubilee

IC photo/Laura Vallejo

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The Sts. Peter and Paul Parish community celebrated 50 years of serving Catholics with several festivities, including a special Thanksgiving Mass on Aug. 14 at which Bishop Oscar A. Solis presided.

WEST VALLEY CITY —Hundreds of faithful Catholics and members of the West Valley City community gathered at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church on Aug. 14 to celebrate the parish’s 50th anniversary with a Thanksgiving Mass.

With the theme “Renewed by the Eucharist, Missionary Witnesses for Christ in Utah,” people gathered in the parking lot, which was furnished with tents, hundreds of chairs and a special altar laden with roses and other flowers.

Fr. Sébastien Sasa, parish administrator, welcomed everyone to the celebration. To the bishop, he said, “You are a source of light to these your people. ... Our parish community is honored to have you here with us as we celebrate the Golden Jubilee of our alma mater, the opening of our new pastoral year here and the honoring of the Catholic Women of the Year of our parish.”

The Mass was concelebrated by Fr. Sasa; Fr. Langes J. Silva, STL, JCD, the diocese’s judicial vicar and vice chancellor; and two retired priests of the diocese, Fr. Hernando Diaz and Msgr. Joseph M. Mayo. Deacon Lynn Johnson assisted.

Bishop Solis acknowledged that the jubilee was a special moment for the parish.

“Joined by faith in God, Sts. Peter and Paul Parish is a house of faith that shares cultural diversity, languages and ethnic groups, but it is one in the Spirit, as Saints Peter and Paul were,” the bishop said, and encouraged those present to embrace what Peter and Paul taught with their lives, their preaching and teachings.

The bishop also commended Fr. Sasa for sharing a vision of the vibrant, diverse and missionary church at the parish, and congratulated the parish leaders, the youth and everyone who made the celebration possible.

Emphasizing that the parish’s evangelization program has set a special tone for all the community, Bishop Solis said that it has created a special place of worship.

 “It makes this church filled with life, joy and solidarity in faith. ... This is very important today as we face many challenges,” the bishop said, adding that, sadly, “the world seems to forget and even deny the existence of God. ... People are being drawn to the material things.”

The mission of evangelization is very important, he said. “We need to have Christ in our lives.”

He asked the community if their hearts were on fire for the love of the Church. With a big “Yes” from those present, Bishop Solis wished the community a happy 50th anniversary and many more.

The parish was founded on August 1, 1972 with Fr. Victor Bonnell as pastor. At that time, only Mass in English was celebrated. More than 30 years later, the first Mass in Spanish was celebrated there.

“Only one Mass was celebrated in Spanish every Sunday at 5 p.m.,” recalled Raquel Van, a founding parishioner.

Nowadays, Sts. Peter and Paul has over 20 ministries in both languages. Among the cultures that comprise the community are Anglos, Latinos, Tongans, Filipinos and Africans.

The parish began celebrating its anniversary last year, and the past 12 months “in which we celebrated the Golden Jubilee of our parish has been a year of thanksgiving to the Lord for all his benefits in our community for 50 years,” Fr. Sasa said. “It was an opportunity to look at the past, the present and lay the necessary foundations for future.”

The celebration included many musical presentations, as well as some traditional  food and dances.