Help from Phoenix Catholics!

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AaronK

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I am in the Phoenix area, and looking to visit a Catholic church here for the first time tomorrow. I want to avoid any liberal-leaning parishes though… and prefer more traditional, reverent worship. I think I’ve been spoiled after attending churches in France and Hiroshima, Japan, with the architecture and reverence of their worship. Most of the Catholic churches I’ve seen in the Phoenix area don’t look much differentiated from the evangelical churches I’m used to.

Anyway, I would like to check out St. Augustine or St. Thomas the Apostle, I’ve heard good things about them and as they do tridentine masses I’m sure they stick to reverent worship. However they are a bit far to be attending regularly, with St. Raphael’s/Our Lady of the Valley (“sister” parishes) a lot closer. Anyone attended either of those two?
 
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AaronK:
I am in the Phoenix area, and looking to visit a Catholic church here for the first time tomorrow. I want to avoid any liberal-leaning parishes though… and prefer more traditional, reverent worship.
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Well, I’m not in Phoenix so I can’t recommend a solid parish . Hopefully someone else can help you there. All I can say is that is one fine bishop you were given. Bishop Olmstead is a very solid man and one of conviction. His works have been well publicized.
 
Well, if you want to see something reverent and a little different, try St. John of the Desert Melkite Church. It is being dedicated tomorrow by Archbishop Cyril. The pastor there, Fr. Peter Butros, is a wonderful man. The Liturgy will be in English and Arabic with a little Greek thrown in for good measure. The parish is at 3718 E. Greenway Road.

Deacon Ed
 
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Lux_et_veritas:
Well, I’m not in Phoenix so I can’t recommend a solid parish . Hopefully someone else can help you there. All I can say is that is one fine bishop you were given. Bishop Olmstead is a very solid man and one of conviction. His works have been well publicized.
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I guess so! I’ve seen people in another message thread on this board speak well of him, and even in France at a Dominican monastery I visited, I was very surprised that a priest I spoke to knew of Olmstead and spoke well of him.

But I don’t think I will be able to sit down with him and have a chat anytime soon (and I do have a lot I need to discuss), so I’m hoping I can find an orthodox, gracious and patient priest 😉
 
I grew up in Phoenix before coming to Houston for college, and I was just back there this winter break. Go to St. Thomas the Apostle: it is the solid type of parish you are looking for. I take it you’re on the east side of town? However, if you do get to the far west side (my place), go check out St. Thomas Aquinas parish. It is maybe not overly traditional (not lots of Confessions, etc.), but it is now the largest church in the area, and (though the statiosn of the cross are nasty cartoons to me) it does have some very nice art inside, with a beautiful huge altar table. Also, the choir at the big Mass (10:45 am Sundays, I think?) is PHENOMENAL. Now THAT Mass is solid! They will be performing at the Vatican in March.

Good luck!
RockAndHoops
 
Deacon Ed:
Well, if you want to see something reverent and a little different, try St. John of the Desert Melkite Church. It is being dedicated tomorrow by Archbishop Cyril. The pastor there, Fr. Peter Butros, is a wonderful man. The Liturgy will be in English and Arabic with a little Greek thrown in for good measure. The parish is at 3718 E. Greenway Road.

Deacon Ed
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Wow, that is different! I just looked it up on Google. I didn’t find it on the Phoenix Diocese site, but from the sites I saw I gather that it is an eastern rite church and actually under separate jurisdiction? Yes? No?

Now, color aside, I do like the fact that the sanctuary (melkite.org/P-Phoenix.html) looks like a “real” church. Although, that is only an illustration… is that the building being dedicated? I looked on Google Earth and it looks completely different at that location.

Anyway, from that description I’m not sure if I would fit in at a place like that. I’m not afraid of foreign languages at all mind you, but Greek and Arabic… that’s completely outside my language/culture experience (I would expect that the laity reflect that cultural background).
 
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RockAndHoops:
I grew up in Phoenix before coming to Houston for college, and I was just back there this winter break. Go to St. Thomas the Apostle: it is the solid type of parish you are looking for. I take it you’re on the east side of town? However, if you do get to the far west side (my place), go check out St. Thomas Aquinas parish. It is maybe not overly traditional (not lots of Confessions, etc.), but it is now the largest church in the area, and (though the statiosn of the cross are nasty cartoons to me) it does have some very nice art inside, with a beautiful huge altar table. Also, the choir at the big Mass (10:45 am Sundays, I think?) is PHENOMENAL. Now THAT Mass is solid! They will be performing at the Vatican in March.
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Thanks for the suggestions. Though I’m actually WAY north of that. St. Thomas the Apostle/St. Augustine would actually be a little closer, and the Greek church closer still.

It would be great if there was a “parish review” website for these sorts of inquiries 😉
 
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AaronK:
Thanks for the suggestions. Though I’m actually WAY north of that. St. Thomas the Apostle/St. Augustine would actually be a little closer, and the Greek church closer still.

It would be great if there was a “parish review” website for these sorts of inquiries 😉
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I live in the East Valley and I am not familiar with the northern part of the valley, so I can’t be of much help.

In regards to the Melkite Church, you will not be able to attend the Divine Liturgy there tomorrow because you need a ticket to attend the dedication of the church due to limited seating.

If you want to attend the Tridentine Mass, go to St. Thomas the Apostle tomorrow at 1pm, I will be there as my fiance is in the choir. St. Thomas the Apostle is also a great parish for the Novus Ordo Mass.

If you were in the East Valley, I could share alot more information with you.

I do know that Bishop Olmsted has made Fr. Clemens (an awesome priest who was instrumental in getting the Tridentine Mass in the Diocese) the new rector of the Cathedral, so if the Mass is not good there yet, it will be in the future. I think the Cathedral (St. Simon and Jude) is in the northern part of the valley.

Unfortunately, the Diocese of Phoenix is a liturgical wasteland due to our previous Bishop and lack of good solid priests (due to the horrible seminary formation that they’ve received previously). It seems that the good Bishop Olmsted has got the Diocese on the right track, but it’s going to take years to undo what’s been done to this place.
 
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proud2bcatholic:
I do know that Bishop Olmsted has made Fr. Clemens (an awesome priest who was instrumental in getting the Tridentine Mass in the Diocese) the new rector of the Cathedral, so if the Mass is not good there yet, it will be in the future. I think the Cathedral (St. Simon and Jude) is in the northern part of the valley.

Unfortunately, the Diocese of Phoenix is a liturgical wasteland due to our previous Bishop and lack of good solid priests (due to the horrible seminary formation that they’ve received previously). It seems that the good Bishop Olmsted has got the Diocese on the right track, but it’s going to take years to undo what’s been done to this place.
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Thanks for the suggestion!! That’s right off the freeway, so it’s a lot more accessible for me than St. Thomas the Apostle (about 22 minutes away… maybe I’m just lazy/impatient?)

The “liturgical wasteland” comment is where my concern is (along with an assumption that “theological wasteland” may also apply), and so the recommendation of a specific Priest and parish is extremely helpful. I don’t want to go to the trouble of contacting and meeting with one only to find that he was partial to the Phoenix Declaration or something like that.
 
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AaronK:
Wow, that is different! I just looked it up on Google. I didn’t find it on the Phoenix Diocese site, but from the sites I saw I gather that it is an eastern rite church and actually under separate jurisdiction? Yes? No?

Now, color aside, I do like the fact that the sanctuary (melkite.org/P-Phoenix.html) looks like a “real” church. Although, that is only an illustration… is that the building being dedicated? I looked on Google Earth and it looks completely different at that location.

Anyway, from that description I’m not sure if I would fit in at a place like that. I’m not afraid of foreign languages at all mind you, but Greek and Arabic… that’s completely outside my language/culture experience (I would expect that the laity reflect that cultural background).
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Yes, the parish is part of the Melkite Eparchy of Newton. Most of the people there are of Middle Eastern extraction. However, part of the Arabic culture is to be very welcoming.

I had forgotten that one needs tickets to attend today (as a deacon I don’t need one, but my pastor is there so I have to “stay home” and open up for the visiting priest who will be serving my parish today).

I’m not sure that “fit” is an appropriate term. That particular parish is quite open and welcoming for non-Arabs. The Melkites are not as ethnically bound as, say, Ukrainians.

Anyway, it’s worth considering when you want a little something different. BTW, Deacon Marion Rimmer is an American (as am I) so there’s no real problem with language or culture.

Deacon Ed
 
If you want some better info for “parish reviews” then you can look at the Diocese of Phoenix’s website and search through parishes by location, and many of them have websites to check out. You can often glean a lot about what a parish will be like from the website.
 
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RockAndHoops:
If you want some better info for “parish reviews” then you can look at the Diocese of Phoenix’s website and search through parishes by location, and many of them have websites to check out. You can often glean a lot about what a parish will be like from the website.
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I have done that, and it helped somewhat, but a lot of sites contain very little in the way of info/pictures. For example the “quasi-parish” pages for St. Augistine/St. Thomas the Apostle. I somehow overlooked Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral as well, until proud2bcatholic recommended it here.
 
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AaronK:
It would be great if there was a “parish review” website for these sorts of inquiries 😉
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No kidding! I’m looking for a parish in the Diocese of Phoenix myself and would like to know a bit more about them.

Maybe we ought to create one. 😃
 
I have also been told that St. Mary’s in Chandler is an outstanding parish.
 
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mosher:
I have also been told that St. Mary’s in Chandler is an outstanding parish.
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It was definitely an outstanding parish when Fr. Clemens was there (he’s now at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral which is why I recommend that Aaron go there), I don’t know how good it is now, plus St. Mary’s is probably too far for Aaron who lives in northern Phoenix.
 
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AaronK:
I am in the Phoenix area, and looking to visit a Catholic church here for the first time tomorrow. I want to avoid any liberal-leaning parishes though… and prefer more traditional, reverent worship.

Anyway, I would like to check out St. Augustine or St. Thomas the Apostle, I’ve heard good things about them and as they do tridentine masses I’m sure they stick to reverent worship. However they are a bit far to be attending regularly, with St. Raphael’s/Our Lady of the Valley (“sister” parishes) a lot closer. Anyone attended either of those two?
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St. Augustine’s is the parish you want if you want a reverent NO Mass. Their pastor is the holiest priest I have ever met. He is also in charge of our TLM at St Thomas the Apostle. I can’t vouch for the NO Masses at St. Thomas though, as I go to the TLM exclusively. (St. Thomas’ dosen’t “do” the Tridentine Mass. Mater Misericordiae Mission rents space from them each week. They have nothing to do with the TLM.)

My mother goes to St. Raphael’s and likes it but I have never been there so I can’t say first hand.
 
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