On August 17, 2008, his excellency, Most Rev. Gerald F. Kicanas, Bishop of Tucson, along with Monsignor R. Michael Schmitz, Vicar General and Provincial Superior for the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest in the United States, announced the establishment of Saint Gianna Oratory located at Holy Family Church in Tucson, AZ. Rev. Father Richard P. von Menshengen was announced as the rector, thus establishing the thirteenth apostolate for the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest in the United States.
Divine providence has brought the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest to the faithful in Tucson and we express our deepest gratitude to his excellency Most Rev. Gerald Kicanas for the invitation he extended to the Institute to come and provide the spritual formation and direction to the members of the Latin Mass Community.
Prior to the Institute's presence, Saint Gianna Latin Mass Community was an informal association established in early 2006 with Fr. Richard J. Rego as its first chaplain. After the passing of our beloved Father Rego in July 2007, Father David Reinders, Catholic Chaplain of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Tucson, AZ along with the assistance of Father Robert Rankin, pastor of St. Melany's Byzantine Catholic Church, was assigned as the interim chaplain for the community.
We are most grateful for their spiritual direction, benevolence, selflessness, and especially for the sacrifices they made in providing their flock with seamless access to the beauty, reverence, and solemnity of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. May Our Blessed Mother continue to provide these two unwavering defenders of the Catholic faith the necessary strength, perseverance and grace necessary to continue to battle in the world.
We thank Father Alonzo Garcia and the parish community of Holy Family Church for their charity and hospitality in providing a place for Saint Gianna Oratory to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Lastly, we welcome our dear rector, who was brought to us through much prayer, intercession, and under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. We look forward to following our new shepherd along with all the beauty he has brought with him from the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.
May Saint Gianna Beretta Molla, the Patroness of our Latin Mass Oratory shower you with many blessings from heaven!
For more information regarding the
Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, please visit the website. For Mass schedules, please click on the link below:
The website will be updated regularly now that Saint Gianna Oratory has been established. Please check back for updates.
Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Benedicto. Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum ejus.
Let us pray for our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. May the Lord grant him long life, strength and health. May the Lord grant that our Holy Father will be blessed on earth and not allow him to fall into the hands of the Church’s enemies.