A Year After Fire, Parish Starts to Rebuild

Last year, Msgr. Tim Nichols addressed the shocked St. John Vianney parishioners, many who watch their church being destroyed in an arson-set conflagration less than 24 hours before the fire, at the Palm Sunday Mass in the parish hall.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "I'll be honest with you that my heart is broken, since I loved our church and I'll miss it," said the somber pastor of the Hacienda Heights, Calif. church dedicated by Cardinal James Francis McIntyre in November 1969. "Like a dear friend, I will mourn the loss of our building, but will fall in love with our new church we build together."

Father Ricardo Viveros recalled how we woke up at 12:01 a.m. on April 16, 2011, to the sound of shattering glass. As he turned, he saw that the whol church was engulfed in flames.

"And many of you have asked me: 'Father Ricky, how was that experience for you?'" he said. "I have to tell you that I wasn't scared, I wasn't worried. It was one of the holiest experiences that I've gone through. And the reason why was I often asked myself, 'Why am I back at St. John Vianney? God, what's going on?'

"God's plan is so much bigger than a church building," Father Viveros stressed. "God's plan for all of us was to be transformed. We the Church are being called to transform ourselves every day. And this past year, I've been so touched to see how many of you have stepped up, have gotten involved in ministry. You have formed new friendships. And the fact that you have chosen to stay during this difficult time shows your love of Christ and for this community.

"So our year of grieving and mourning is over," he declared with a half-smile. "Jesus is saying that part is behind us. We can no longer go to the tomb and look for what we were. Jesus is saying the church is alive and well today. So, starting this evening, I will no longer allow any grumbling about our fire."

Once back in the parish hall, there was an all-night adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Members were invited to spend time thanking God for the gift of the old church and praying for the building of the new church.

"People are still mourning the loss of the church," Msgr. Nichols told The Tidings. "People have remembered that they were baptized there, they had First Communions there, they had their marriages there, they went to Mass there. So a lot of this is still within the first year very sensitive. We've had people actually looking at the church from outside and crying. So there's been a tremendous loss over this."

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Construction only began recently on what's being called a "Midterm Church," which will include a cement floor, heating and air conditioning, rows of chairs and a tent-like covering. The structure, which is weather-proof, will seat about 750 churchgoers compared to 1,000 in the old church, and should be finished by June.

All of this has taken a toll on the parish priests - Msgr. Nichols, Father Viveros, Missionary of the Holy Spirit Father Ricardo de Alba and Father Mike Sezzi, in residence at St. John Vianney.

"I've seen the burnt-out church for a year, and even now sometimes when I go inside I get very emotional," said Msgr. Nichols. "The walls are still standing and it looks like Berlin 1945 - pretty much like it was after the fire and the original clean up. And from the priests' standpoint, it's been extremely difficult to try to do ministry cramming everything into small spaces. We're a very busy parish with 5,500 families. So it's been very challenging. It's also been a very life-giving experience and has renewed the faith of our people. So we're still fully blessed here."

"It's been hard with some of the church still standing," Sharon Altman, who has belonged to St. John Vianney Parish since 1972, said. "In fact, most of the time I don't like to look that way. And then every once in a while, I kind of look and say, 'Oh, it really did happen.'"

Altman says that the parish priests have worked tirelessly to hold up the spirits of parishioners, trying to make things better than they really were.

"It feels like, OK, now we're doing something a little more proactive," José Pena, the Spanish choir director, pointed out. "And like Father said in his sermon, it's time to forget the past and start looking at the future. Instead of 'poor me, poor me' and 'how much I have suffered,' it's time to forget all that and go forward."

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