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Sacred
Heart Parish is situated in Alamosa County, in the center of the 7,000 feet high
San Luis Valley. The town of Alamosa has a population of 10,000 people and is
the center of commerce for the five counties that compose this large alpine
valley. The parish community includes many farming and ranching families, as
well as people from the city. The community is composed of potato farmers, and
those who work in the cellars and in the harvesting and marketing of the crops.
They are miners, forest rangers, school teachers, professors and janitors. There
is also a large community of immigrants from Guatemala, Mexico.
The seeds for the parish community were nurtured in
1875 by a visiting Italian Jesuit missioner from the Diocese of Santa Fe. Before
the Mexican American War, the Spanish missioners from northern New Mexico served
the Catholic community which was mostly Mexican, but also sprinkled with French
and Irish trappers and miners.
After the building of the Rio Grande Railroad, and the
arrival of the first train in Alamosa on July 4, 1878, the Catholic population
grew. Nine years later in 1887, Bishop Machebeuf of Denver purchased land on the
400 block of 8th Street and later, officiated at the dedication of
the new church. This was one of his first acts after his consecration as a
bishop. At this time Alamosa was a mission of the Guadalupe Parish in Conejos.
It would remain a mission for the next thirty-two years, despite many petitions
from the Catholic Alamosa community.
The land for the present church was purchased in 1916
by Fr. Edmund Behiels, the last Jesuit to serve Alamosa. Construction of the new
church began in 1922, under the leadership of Fr. John Murphy who in 1919,
became the first official pastor of Sacred Heart.
The colorful and strong leader, Fr. Edward McCarthy,
followed Fr. Murphy in 1927. It was a time of turmoil in the parish and in the
nation with World War I and the Depression. The parish debt was huge, as
construction had been well underway when financially bad times hit. The debt was
finally eliminated in 1948, thanks to a great year for potato prices and
generous farmers.
There are many stories of Fr. McCarthy roaming the
streets and rounding up the children for catechism classes. No one escaped his
ear pulling, not even the Presbyterian children. He was a creative and active
man. The present Alamosa Credit Union and the San Luis Valley Hospital both owe
gratitude to this man who saw to the needs of the larger community and worked
tirelessly to meet them. He was also a man who knew and loved the arts. In 1942
he invited German artist, Josef Steinhage to paint a mural of the Sacred Heart
in the sanctuary.
Also invited by Fr. McCarthy were the Benedictine
Sisters from St. Scholastica. They started an evangelistic program in the 1930s
called the Sisters’ Summer School. The first year 300 children registered. The
program was a great success and the people of Alamosa looked forward to
Sisters’ summer arrival until it discontinued in 1968, after thirty-eight
years of missionary work.
Fr. Francis Faistl became the next pastor in 1948. His
first project was to begin fundraising for the construction of a church hall.
Twelve years and many spaghetti dinners later saw it come to a conclusion.
During his time, the school was started and the St. Francis Sisters of Atonement
came to Alamosa as administrators and teachers. Stained glass windows were added
to the church and Josef Steinhage painted the nativity mural and began a mural
in honor of St. Joseph; (The mural was finished by Joseph Ramirez from Chicago,
and dedicated in 1999). The Knights of Columbus improved property in the San
Juan Mountains that the parish had acquired during the depression, and Camp
Sacred Heart began to host youth for the summer.
Fr.
Delbert Blong became the fourth pastor of Sacred Heart in 1968. It was during
his time that the school had to close due to a lack of funds. He was followed by
Fr. John Costanzo, Fr. Roger Dorcy, Fr. Jim King, and today the parish is led by
Fr. Gary Kennedy. During the history of the parish, many men have walked with
the community as pastoral assistants. Their work was accomplished with that of
many wonderful religious women from the Benedictine Community as well as the
Sisters of Mercy.
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