A parish is resilient and adaptable, Bishop Nelson Perez said as he began the liturgy celebrating the 145th anniversary of St. Mary Parish in Lorain. St. Mary?s is the oldest Catholic parish in the city.
It is the nature of the Church to adapt to the world around it, the bishop said, noting that the parish and the Church are not the same as they were 145 years ago when St. Mary?s was established.
Just as doctors used to make house calls, so did the early priests, including Father Louis Molon, when he visited Catholic families in Black River Township. Those visits evolved into Mass being celebrated in homes and eventually led to the building of St. Mary?s in 1879.