NAP History

HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF THE MCCJ NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCE (NAP)

 **Dates in parentheses indicate the year in which a term of office ended; a parish was closed or handed back, etc.**

1939       Fr. Edward Mason arrives in the U.S.A. to look for place to open community.

1940       Frs. Hamlet Accorsi and Dominic Ferrara arrive and assume charge of Holy Trinity Parish, Cincinnati, Ohio (1958).

1945       Fr. Hamlet Accorsi takes charge of St. Henry’s Parish, Cincinnati, Ohio (1971).

1946       Arrival of a group of Comboni Missionaries.

1947       8108 Beechmont Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio, is acquired. First group of scholastics arrives.

1948       Parish of Santa Isabel, California is accepted (1984). Parish of Mission San Antonio de Pala, California, is accepted (1991).

1949       Novitiate opens at West Harrison, Ohio (1950). West wing of Sacred Heart Seminary High School, Cincinnati, Ohio, is completed (1968).

1950       Fr. Julius Rizzi is appointed first Provincial (1953). Property in Monroe, Michigan is acquired (1986).

1951       Novitiate is transferred to Beechmont Avenue (1952).

1952       Parish of St. Michael, Louisville, Kentucky, is accepted (1958). Novitiate is transferred to Monroe, Michigan (1968).

1953       Parish of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Louisville, Kentucky, is founded (1971). Fr. Hamlet Accorsi is appointed Provincial (1959).

1954       Parish of St. Joseph at Washington, Georgia, is accepted (1970).

1955       Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Hermosa Beach, California, is accepted (1957). Residence on Suire Avenue, Cincinnati, is acquired (1964).

1956       Mission center in Montclair, New Jersey, is opened. St. Mary’s Parish, Toccoa, Georgia, is accepted (1964).

1957       Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Irwindale, California, is accepted (1977).

1958       St. Anthony’s Parish, Cincinnati, is accepted (1962).

1959       Fr. Anthony Todesco is appointed Provincial (1969).

1960       Community established near Yorkville, Illinois (1981).

1961       The Scholasticate is transferred to the campus of the University of San Diego, California (1968).

1962       Parish of St. Thomas More, St. Jean, Quebec, is accepted – the first foundation in Canada (1970)

1963       Property near Columbia, New Jersey, is acquired (1978). Parish of St. Michael’s, Cincinnati, Ohio, is accepted (1992).

1966       Community at Brossard, Quebec, is established (1987).

1968       The Scholasticate is transferred from San Diego, California, to Cincinnati, Ohio (1972). The Novitiate (1971) and College (1979) are transferred from Monroe, Michigan, to Cincinnati, Ohio. The High School Seminary is transferred to Monroe, Michigan (1985).

1969       Fr. Sergio Contran is elected Provincial (1975).

1970       Holy Cross Parish, Los Angeles, is accepted. Good Shepherd Parish, Brossard, Quebec, is accepted (1986).

1971       St. Pius Parish, Cincinnati, Ohio, is accepted (1993).

1974       Novitiate is reopened in Yorkville, Illinois (1977).

1975       Fr. Charles Busetti is elected Provincial (1979).

1976       International Scholasticate is established at Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois.

1977       The parish of St. Albert the Great, Compton, California, is accepted (6/30/1997). Novitiate is transferred to Compton, California (1978). Mission center is established at Glendora, California; closed in 1980 and later transferred to St. Albert the Great Parish (1991).

1978       Mission center near Cambridge, Ontario, is established (1985).

1979       House in Monroe, Michigan, burns and is rebuilt (1986). College residence is transferred from Beechmont Avenue to St. Michael’s Parish, Cincinnati, Ohio (Comboni House) (1988). Provincial offices transferred from St. Michael Parish to Beechmont Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio.

1980      Fr. Charles Walter takes office as Provincial (1986).

1981       Casa Comboni, Los Angeles, opens (1987). Mission Center, Yorkville, Illinois, is transferred to Hyde Park, Chicago (1985).

1982       Residence for Postulancy opened in Chicago in quarters rented from the Xaverian Fathers (1983). Property purchased at Williamstown Lake, Kentucky.

1983       Novitiate reopened at Holy Cross Parish, Los Angeles (1985). St. Vitus Parish, Chicago, is accepted (1990).

1984       Pre-Postulancy rented in Waterloo, Ontario (1985).

1985       Promotion center moved from the Scholasticate to a purchased convent in La Grange Park, Illinois. Promotion center moved from Cambridge, Ontario, to a rented convent  in Kitchener, Ontario.

1986       Postulancy reopens at La Grange Park (1992).

1987       Fr. Brian Quigley takes office as Provincial (1992). Casa Comboni is transferred from Los Angeles to a rented convent in Pasadena, California (1990). Novitiate reopens at the former Casa Comboni residence in Los Angeles (1988).

1988       Novitiate is transferred to the former Comboni House, located at St. Michael’s Parish, Cincinnati, Ohio (June 30, 1992). Property purchased for a promotion center in Monroe, Michigan (sold June 30, 1995).

1990       Casa Comboni is transferred to a purchased property in Azusa, California.

1991       Mission promotion center opened in a purchased property in Covina, California. St. Donatus Parish in Blue Island, Illinois and Seven Holy Founders Parish in Calumet Park, Illinois are accepted.

1992       Postulancy reopens in St. Donatus convent, Blue Island, Illinois (Suspended 1994).

7/2/1992   The new Provincial Directory is approved for a period of three years and promulgated.

1993       The Comboni Lay Missionary Association is established and the La Grange Park Community opens the doors to the Comboni Lay Missionary Program Orientation Course.

1/1/1993   Fr. John Converset takes office as Provincial (1998).

1994       The first group of Comboni Lay Missionaries is commissioned to serve in Kenya and Uganda. An Office for Justice and Peace is established in Cincinnati, Ohio.

1/19/1996 Sr. Roseanne White, osu officially starts to serve as provincial Finance Director.

7/1/1997   A pastoral team for the cluster parishes of St. Cecilia and Holy Cross is established in agreement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The Comboni Missionaries consider it one community.

8/10/1998 Seven Holy Founders Church in Calumet Park, Illinois welcomes its first Comboni pastor out of the St. Donatus’ community.

12/18/1998 The MCCJ accept a ministry among the Latino population of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

1/1/1999 Fr. Dennis Conway takes office as Provincial.

1999       Postulancy reopens at Casa Comboni, Azusa, California. “Defining Mission - Comboni Missionaries in North America...” authored by Dr. Patricia Durchholz, is published.   

2001       Hispanic ministry begins at St. Charles Borromeo church, Cincinnati, OH

2002    Peace Corner in Chicago, Illinois is established to minister to inner-city youth.

2003    Casa Comboni, Azusa, California is closed.

2005    Fr Louie Gasparini takes office as Provincial.

2005    Seven Holy Founders Parish in Calumert Park is handed over to the Archdiocese of Chicago.

2005    The Mission Promotion center of Kitchener, Ontario Canada, is moved to St Joseph Parish. The Comboni Missionaries consolidate pastoral ministry, mission promotion and vocation promotion with their acceptance of St Joseph Parish in Kitchner, ON Canada.

2005    St Martin de Porres, Chicago, Illinois, is accepted.

2007    Mr Tony Potts starts as provincial Finance Director.

2010    St Lucy Parish [Newark Archdiocese], New Jersey is accepted.

2010    The Pre Postulancy is re-opened at St Cecilia, Los Angeles, California.

2011    The International Theologate at Hyde Park, Chicago is closed.

2011    Fr Jose Manuel Baeza Gama takes office as Provincial.

2011    St Donatus Parish, Blue Island, Illinois, is handed over to the Archdiocese of Chicago.

2011    The Pre-Postulancy is transferred to the Provincial house in Cincinnati, Ohio

2011    New Jersey community moves to St. Lucy Parish; Montclair house is closed.

2012    The Postulancy starts in the Provincial house Cincinnati, Ohio