by Geoff Fox
West Virginia’s shepherd of the Catholic faith visited Berkeley Springs last week to celebrate 175 years of the church in the Mountain State at a special mass service.
Bishop Mark Brennan celebrated the Mass on April 28 with Fr. Stephen Vallelonga of St. Vincent De Paul; Very Rev. Timothy Grassi, Vicar Forane, and Rev. Alex Paul of St. James in Charles Town; Rev. Thomas Sebastian, CST of Assumption in Keyser and Our Lady of Grace in Romney; Rev. Arul Anthony from St. Agnes in Shepherdstown; and Rev. Rusiri Kokila Wijewickrama, T.O.R., from St. Joseph in Martinsburg. All clergy are part of the Martinsburg Vicariate.
A vicariate in the Catholic church is a territorial or administrative division in the church that is overseen by a vicar and serves as an intermediate stage between a mission and a fully established diocese. The Martinsburg Vicariate includes Fort Ashby, Keyser, Moorefield, Romney, Shepherdstown, Ridgeley, Hedgesville, Franklin, Charles Town, Martinsburg, Inwood, Petersburg, and Berkeley Springs.
Around 70 people attended the Tuesday evening Mass.
On July 19, 1850, Pope Pius IX established the Diocese of Wheeling with Rev. Richard V. Whelan as the first bishop of the newly formed diocese in the Catholic Church. The diocese would come to encompass the whole state and be known as the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in 1974.
Local church celebrates
Altar servers led the local Knights of Columbus, Council 12191, the priests, and the bishop to the altar during the April 28 celebration.
Grand Knight Pat Narango read the first reading and Grassi read the Gospel reading.
Brennan then gave a homily, telling a brief history of the diocese and how people are starting to come into and back to the church.
A prayer for the 175th anniversary of the diocese was said after the homily.
Before Mass ended, Vallelonga thanked Bishop Brennan for coming to St. Vincent De Paul.
A reception was held after in the Paul Niner Hall, with food catered by Charlotte’s Café.
A few days later, on Friday, May 1, the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops announced that Pope Leo XIV had accepted Brennan’s resignation/retirement as bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. At 79, Brennan is one of the oldest active bishop serving in the United States. The church announced the appointment of Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala as the tenth bishop of the diocese in West Virginia.
Brennan will remain as apostolic administrator of the diocese through July 1. A Mass of Installation for Menjivar will take place on July 2 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Wheeling.
