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Chorbishop visits local Maronite congregation
St. Rafka Mission in Englewood starts building fund
By Roxanne King
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On Super Bowl Sunday the local Maronite mission had a kick off of its own when a
visiting chorbishop made a pastoral visit and gave a donation to start a building fund.
St. Louis Chorbishop Gregory Mansour, 47, visited St. Rafka Mission in Englewood
last month to encourage the newly established community and offer pastoral advice.
Chorbishop Mansour is vicar general and chancellor of Our Lady of Lebanon Eparchy, a Maronite
Catholic diocese. Headquartered in St. Louis, the eparchy extends over 34 states, including Colorado.
The chorbishop, similar to an auxiliary bishop but without the authority to ordain priests
or deacons, is administrator of St. Rafka Mission. Comprised primarily of Middle Eastern
immigrants and a handful of American-born Lebanese, the congregation of 60 worships at All Souls Church
in Englewood.
Based in Lebanon, the Maronite Church shares unity of faith with the Roman
Catholic Church, including belief in the seven sacraments and the primacy of the pope. St. Rafka Mission
was established with approval from Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., last year.
With bi-ritual faculties, Father Shane Wasinger, parochial vicar at Notre Dame Parish,
offers the Maronite-rite liturgy at All Souls at 6 p.m. on Sundays. He concelebrated the weekly Mass
with Chorbishop Mansour Jan. 26.
Conducted in Arabic, Aramaic and English, the Maronite rite follows the liturgical
tradition of Antioch.
"Even though this parish has its roots in the Middle East, it has a right to be
here," Chorbishop Mansour said during his homily. "You have the heritage of your grandparents but
the vision of your children.
"Make this a place where your Middle Eastern Christianity can shine," he urged.
Born and reared a Roman Catholic in Flint, Mich., Chorbishop Mansour said his vocation
to the priesthood "came from a mission just like this."
He was 18, he told the Register, when a Maronite mission was established in his
hometown.
"It changed my whole life," he said, explaining that the Maronite tradition brought unity
to his Lebanese-American family.
His mother was the first catechist in his hometown mission. Her dedication and the
inspiration of the Maronite priest made a profound impact on him.
"Wherever there are Maronites, it makes the Church truly universal, truly Catholic," he
said. "I love the Church. I'm at home in the Church. I love the Latin, Byzantine and Maronite rites —
all the expressions of the Catholic Church."
The Maronite rite shouldn't be perceived as belonging exclusively to Middle Easterners,
he said.
"It belongs to the whole Church," the chorbishop said. "It enriches the Church because
it's part of the culture of Jesus himself. ... It brings us right back to the culture of the earliest Christians."
Noting that the congregation's namesake, Lebanese Maronite nun St. Rafka,
embraced suffering as a way to Christ, Chorbishop Mansour exhorted the community to follow her lead
by continuing the sacrificial work it takes to build a Maronite parish Denver will be proud of.
The mission is the first in the United States to bear St. Rafka's name.
"I think St. Rafka Mission will one day be a parish," Chorbishop Mansour said
confidently.
And in a show of faith following the Mass, he donated $500 in memory of his mother to establish
a church building fund.
He made the announcement as the community celebrated its monthly Lebanese dinner in
the parish meeting hall. Soon others were accepting pledge cards for the building fund.
Christina Cohlmia, 33, is a second-generation American whose grandparents emigrated
from Lebanon. Like her fellow parishioners, she relishes the cultural bond the Maronite
community provides to her and her family.
"It's nice to pass the Lebanese culture on to my children," she said. "It's nice to hear the
Mass in Arabic, English and Aramaic. It's also nice to share Mass with a community of friends and
family."
For Cohlmia's husband George, 36, who emigrated from Beirut 21 years ago, the liturgy
also serves as a treasured connection with his homeland.
"It's important to preserve some elements of our culture — that we not forget where
we're from," he said.
From the Diocese of St. Paul, Minn., Father Wasinger, 40, took over St. Rafka's after
the mission's founding pastor, Father Jean Jabbor, left last fall. Fascinated by history, Father
Wasinger developed an interest in the Eastern Catholic tradition and the Middle Eastern culture during a
three-month stay in Jerusalem several years ago. His affinity for Eastern Catholicism deepened as
he developed a relationship with a Maronite parish that sat adjacent to a Roman Catholic church
he pastored in St. Paul.
"The Eastern Church is more mystical," Father Wasinger said noting that there are
differences in the wording of the liturgies, as well as the different languages used. He is learning Aramaic —
the language Jesus spoke — which is used for the consecration in Maronite-rite liturgies. The
opportunity to participate in both traditions "adds meaning to them," the priest said.
But the people — and their food — also drew him.
"They're very friendly, social," he said. "A lot of them are from the Middle East.
(The Maronite community) is friendly and warm."
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