Kansas City Gets a New Church

The St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Latin Mass Community in the archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, is excited to announce they will soon be moving into their own church! Exterior repairs have already begun on what was formerly the Westwood Lutheran Church on Rainbow Blvd but what will soon be the Catholic Parish of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne. The new church is centrally located in Kansas City in the northeastern most section of Johnson Co. Workers just finished repairing the old bell tower and a new 6-foot tall Catholic cross now stands gloriously atop this formerly Protestant edifice.

Interior renovations are scheduled to begin soon. The sanctuary will be remodeled with three altars and a communion rail. The choir loft will be extended and a real pipe organ (left behind by the generous Lutherans) installed in the loft. Confessionals must also be added and the sacristy remodeled. The new church also comes with a basement and kitchen which will function as a parish hall for coffee and donuts, parish dinners, classrooms for catechism class, and a room for mothers and children. All the necessary furnishings soon to be put in place for a real functioning full-fledged parish community!

The church also comes with a rectory for the priests! A parish workday was held shortly before the exterior renovations began and over 90 members of the community turned up to rake leaves, trim hedges and trees, do some landscaping, and clean up the property to get it ready for the priests to move in.

The Latin Mass Community of Kansas City, Kansas was founded by Archbishop James P. Keleher in 1988 and entrusted to the care of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter in 1996. Initially it was served as a satellite of the apostolate in Maple Hill, Kansas. Fr. Edouard de Mentque, FSSP would travel to say Sunday Mass at St. Mary’s-St.Anthony’s Church in downtown Kansas City, KS. Later it grew into an apostolate of its own right with Fr. de Mentque as its first chaplain who placed the community under the patronage of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne. The community then moved into its present location at Blessed Sacrament Parish on Parallel Parkway. Fr. de Mentque was succeeded by Fr. Philip Wolfe, FSSP in 2002 who grew the apostolate substantially over the next seven years. Fr. Wolfe was succeeded by Fr. John Fongemie, FSSP in 2009 who, in light of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, recognized the need for the community to have its own church so that it could grow into a parish of its own right and ensure a permanent and proper home for the Traditional Latin Mass in Kansas City.

The sale of the old rectory and a fundraising drive soon to kick off will hopefully raise the necessary funds to complete the interior renovations and the community looks forward to a dedication ceremony sometime in the Spring of 2012. Many thanks go out to all those who have helped make this transition such a success especially Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann who has been so supportive of the Fraternity of St. Peter and the Latin Mass in his archdiocese. Please keep the community in your prayers as we take this next step forward in furthering the work of God in this little corner of His vineyard.
If you are interesting in helping us with this project please visit our website: www.kclatinmass.com and click on the “Building Project Update.”

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Latin Mass Community
5035 Rainbow Blvd.
Westwood, KS. 66205
ph: (913) 236-0005
www.kclatinmass.com

February 15, 2012