Sacred Heart Parish in Jeannette celebrates 100 years

By Phil Brown
Contributing Writer

JEANNETTE – For generations, Catholic faithful in Jeannette have climbed the steep hill and walked through the welcoming doors of Sacred Heart Parish to celebrate joyful occasions or seek solace in times of loss.

On Sunday, the faithful filled the pews of the magnificent stone edifice to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the church’s dedication and to honor the many thousands of people who have celebrated the sacraments in the sanctuary, knelt there to pray or say goodbye to loved ones under the building’s towering roof.

According to Bishop Larry J. Kulick, who celebrated Mass to mark the anniversary, the church, which was formally dedicated on July 20,1924, is more than an architectural gem created in the industrial heyday of the Roaring ’20s.

The English Gothic masterpiece has served as a vessel of faith, carrying Catholics home on their lifelong journey to Jesus, Bishop Kulick said.

Bishop Kulick noted that the architect for the church, Pittsburgh’s Carlton Strong, designed the interior roofs of churches he built with a spiritual motivation.

The soaring structures were to remind worshippers of both the ark of Noah and the Barque of Saint Peter, a ship that is symbol of the Catholic Church commanded by the pope.

This beautiful, historic structure is more than just a building. It is a barque carrying faithful pilgrims of God through the troubled waters of this world to the new Jerusalem, Bishop Kulick said.

From 1921-26, Strong built other magnificent churches in the Pittsburgh and Greensburg dioceses, like Immaculate Conception Church in Irwin and St. Joseph Church in New Kensington.

“Architecture is here to inspire us and allow our faith to grow stronger,” he said. “Our faith comes from our senses.”

Built in a day when the steel, coal and glass industries were booming, the church stirs the senses with the work of talented craftsmen from the era.

According to the church history on the Sacred Heart Parish Website, sandstone for the building was quarried in Beaver County. The stained-glass windows were created by Hunt Stained Glass Studio in Pittsburgh and the Stations of the Cross are wooden carvings designed by the Oberammergau Passion Players of Bavaria, Germany.

The days of great church architecture were cut short when the Great Depression and World War II ended the industrial boom, Bishop Kulick said. After the war, more modern churches came into fashion.

Bishop Kulick said the Roaring ’20s were also a boom time for workers and many immigrants gave their lives to work in difficult situations. Those workers provided for large families but always had something to share.

Bishop Kulick pointed out that it was the bread of the poor that was shared with the Lord and used to feed the 5,000 in John’s Gospel, a foretaste of the Eucharist that has long fed the poor in spirit who come through the doors of the church.

The bishop thanked those attending the anniversary Mass for their hard work and generosity that was required to prepare the church for the 100th anniversary and that allows it to serve the faithful into its second century.

“It required great sacrifice,” he said, praising their efforts. “It’s not the bishop’s church. It’s your church.”

Bishop Kulick also praised the contributions of the monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey who served the parish for many years of Sacred Heart’s history, including Father Leon Hont, OSB, who concelebrated Mass.

He also extended thanks to Deacon Bill Newhouse, Father Daniel J. Ulishney, administrator pro-term, and Father Job Foote, parochial vicar, for their valuable service to the faith community in Jeannette.