RALEIGH – The faith community of Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral gathered Jan. 3 for the dedication of a 20,000-square foot parish center. The day also marked the 10th day of Christmas and, for the cathedral, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Name of Jesus.
The building, which includes meeting space, a gym and a stage, is situated next to the cathedral. The new parish center will serve needs of the parish community and Cathedral School, which is located on the downtown campus about three miles away.
The event began with a bilingual Mass at 7 p.m., which was streamed live. It also included a procession featuring a statue of Mary, blessing with holy water inside the center and a ceremonial first basket on the basketball court.
Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama presided at Mass. Monsignor David Brockman, pastor and rector of the cathedral, offered a homily in English. Father Erik Reyes, a parochial vicar at the cathedral, offered one in Spanish.
Monsignor spoke about how honoring the name of Jesus reminds people of all the blessings they have received through him.
“Tonight we have the great blessing and honor to add to that set of thanksgivings a project that is 10 years in the making … a new parish center,” he said.
The congregation, which included parishioners, Knights of Columbus and Cathedral School families, celebrated alongside Father John Vedanayagam, M.S.F.S., a parochial vicar at the cathedral, Father Matthew Nwafor of St. Catherine Parish in Wake Forest, Father John De Guzman of St. Michael Parish in Cary and Deacons Michael Alig and Juan Banda of the cathedral.
They listened as Monsignor shared details of meeting rooms inside the parish center. One was named for Blessed Father Michael McGivney, a Connecticut priest who founded the Knights of Columbus, and another for St. José Sánchez del Río, who was martyred in 1928 in Mexico at age 14 when he refused to renounce his Catholic faith.
Other rooms were named for Monsignor Thomas Hadden and Elizabeth Dunbar.
Monsignor Hadden was born in Raleigh in 1929 and converted to Catholicism in 8th grade after attending St. Monica Catholic School. He served as rector of [then] Sacred Heart Cathedral from 1973 until 1983 and was the first Black priest in the United States to do so, Monsignor told NC Catholics.
“He’s very much a hero in the life of the priesthood,” Monsignor said, noting that Monsignor Hadden, who died in 2012, was a mentor to him.
Elizabeth Dunbar was a cathedral parishioner who volunteered in the effort to build a parish center. Alongside her husband, Dan, she planned to reach out to people, discuss a potential parish center and fundraise for its creation. She died in 2019, just before that effort was to begin. But Dan carried out the tasks with his team, Monsignor said, and contacted more than 3,800 families.
“Elizabeth was the picture of hospitality,” Monsignor said, and it was fitting that a room for fellowship would bear her name and feature a photo of her smiling.
The parish center took about 15 months to construct and cost about $10 million, Monsignor Brockman said. About $6 million of that was raised by the parish, while the additional $4 million came from a loan and parish savings.
Since the dedication of Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral in 2017, a soccer field was added in 2020. The next parish project, Monsignor said, is a cemetery, columbarium and mausoleum adjacent to the cathedral.
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