Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Catholic Church Celebrates Their 150th Anniversary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) September 25, 2009 -- The celebration will begin with a Gala/Dinner/Dance to be held at the Gonzaga Athletic Center 19 Eye Street NW, Washington, DC., from 6:30 PM to 11:00 PM. The celebration will continue with a Mass Celebration on October 18, 2000, at 9:30 AM in the upper church at 900 North Capitol Street NW Washington DC. All are welcomed to celebrate with us.
The year 2009 is the beginning of a new season not only for our country, but also for

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Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Catholic Church Celebrates Their 150th Anniversary

Welcome visit Our WebSite:

http://www.stalschurchdc.org

St. Aloysius Gonzaga Catholic Church. The church dedicated in 1859 under the sponsorship of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is named for Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, a young Italian Jesuit who died at the age of 23, having devoted his life to the service of people, prayer, and study, for the greater glory of God. (Please see www.stalschurchdc.org for a glimpse at our history under 150th Anniversary Information.) In that spirit, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Church has continued that legacy through prayer and action for education, peace, and social
justice.
When the Church rose at the base of Burch’s Hill, only the Government Printing
Office and Senator’s Douglas’s home on the top of the hill gave the neighborhood
any sense of permanence. Over the next 150 years, the city has been built, emptied
and rebuilt several times. Even now much of the K St. and H St. corridors await true
renewal, having been returned to empty lots awaiting revitalization. Just to our north,
the hoped for renewal of the North West One Development awaits a revived housing

market. Land that first housed the Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Quartermaster Hospital
during the Civil War, even became a thriving residential neighborhood. In the 1960s the good
intentions of government and non-profit organizations produced a collection of HUD funded
subsidized housing communities on the same land. Today the Temple Courts Apartment

building is literally being ground to aggregate for yet another parking lot, banking land for the city’s future rise. The struggle to act justly has as in most communities of faith met with mixed success. While some of the founders distrusted the radical reform represented by abolitionism, they remained loyal to the union, and compassionate to individuals. Parishioners and friends built Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Hospital in less than two weeks. Sisters of Mercy and the Reverend Father Wiget, S.J., the pastor, ministered there to the wounded from battlefields in Virginia and Maryland.
Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Church became the center of the Swampoodle neighborhood known for
its gritty and humble roots— by lifting up many through spiritual challenge and education.
Urban decay and flight devastated the area in the 1950s. St. Aloysius parish and its partner in ministry Gonzaga College High School, remained while the neighborhood changed once again.
One of our most prominent ministries today is the McKenna Center—the Reverend Father
Horace McKenana, S.J., after whom the center is named, being a true apostle to the poor. It

provides a year-round drop-in center and a winter shelter for up to ten homeless men. The focus of the shelter is to help its residents to become self-sufficient, to be able lead meaningful lives through being employed, having a place of their own, and living in freedom from addictions to hard drugs and alcohol. The McKenna Center has assisted homeless men and neighborhood families, provided shelter, and served meals to the hungry since 1984. (For more information on the McKenna Center, please see fathermckennacenter.org.).
The United States has been shaped by progressive religious traditions. At their best, these
traditions have made America a more just, inclusive, and fair nation. Christians—and non-
Christians alike—can learn again from our history to understand how faith can serve to better
unify our country, rather than divide it. We hope that our future will give spiritual power to us and our country in our search to provide the life that future generations deserve and that we will be enlightened by peace, tolerance and understanding among people.

More information can be found online at http://www.stalschurchdc.org

150th Anniversary     catholic     St Als     St. Aloysius     St. Als DC     washington dc