December 5 Mass To Launch Centennial Celebration

Amarillo—The Diocese of Amarillo will begin its year-long celebration of its Centennial with a 5:30pm Mass Friday, Dec. 5 at St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1200 South Washington.
 
Bishop Patrick J. Zurek will preside at the Mass, with priests of the diocese concelebrating and deacons assisting. It is the only Mass that will be celebrated that day in the Diocese of Amarillo, according to Father Lawrence John, JCL, Vicar General and Rector at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
 
During the Mass, the Centennial Candle will be blessed and lit for the first time. After the Mass, each pastor will receive a candle to be lit during the weekend Masses in their own parishes and missions, symbolizing our unity in Faith and our shared journey as a diocesan family.
 
The Kickoff Mass is the first of numerous events and celebrations taking place throughout the Diocese of Amarillo to mark its Centennial, culminating in a Mass of Thanksgiving to celebrate the 100th anniversary Saturday, Aug. 22 at 10:00am, also at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
 
“As we look toward this momentous occasion, we are invited to reflect on the very heart of our journey as a diocesan family: ‘Faith anchors us, Hope guides us, Communion strengthens us, and Mission sends us’— a hundred years of walking together in Christ.
 
“Cherishing this moment in our shared history, we give thanks for the grace to witness the 100th year of our diocese—a true milestone and a blessing. Together, clergy, religious and laity, let us gather for the Centennial Celebrations to thank God for His enduring Faithfulness.”
 
According to the diocesan archives and amarillodiocese.org, the Diocese of Amarillo is composed of 26 counties comprising approximately 25,800 square miles.
 
The first evidence of a Catholic presence in this area was in 1541 when the Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was searching for Cibola, the seven cities of gold.
 
On the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Fray Juan de Padilla, a Spanish Franciscan Friar accompanying the Coronado Expedition offered Mass in the environs of Palo Duro Canyon south of Amarillo.
 
Fray Padilla is the first martyr on U.S. soil. He died while evangelizing the native people in what is now present-day Kansas on Nov. 30, 1542.
 
The Diocese of Amarillo was originally part of the Diocese of Guadalajara, Mexico; then Linares, Mexico; New Orleans; and, then the Texas dioceses of Galveston and Dallas before being established as a diocese on Aug. 3, 1926. Since its creation, two dioceses have been formed from its original territory: the Diocese of San Angelo, which was erected on Oct. 16, 1961 and the Diocese of Lubbock, which was erected on March 25, 1983.
 
Bishop Zurek is the eighth Bishop of Amarillo and is the longest-serving bishop in the 99- year of the diocese. Other bishops who have served the Diocese of Amarillo:
• Bishop Rudolph A. Gerken, 1927-1933;
• Bishop Robert Emmett Lucey, 1934-1941;
• Bishop Laurence J. FitzSimon, 1941-1958;
• Bishop John L. Morkovsky, 1956-1963;
• Bishop Lawrence M. DeFalco, 1963-1979;
• Bishop Leroy T. Matthiesen, 1980-1997; and,
• Bishop John W. Yanta, 1997-2008.
 
The Mass is scheduled to be livestreamed on the St. Mary’s Cathedral website at St. Mary's Cathedral Amarillo—You Tube. Look for additional information about upcoming events noting the centennial of the Diocese of Amarillo at amarillodiocese.org; westtexascatholic.org; on the diocesan Facebook page (Amarillo Diocese); in parish bulletins; and, on Catholic Radio.