Starting a parish from scratch is no small task. When Father Marcus A. Pollard, chaplain of Christendom College in Front Royal, was tapped by Bishop Emeritus Paul S. Loverde to found St. Veronica Church in Chantilly, he needed all the help he could get.
That’s when Father Pollard’s flock of new parishioners stepped up to assist their shepherd.
Founding parishioner and parish outreach coordinator Joy Wise remembered how she and her husband, Paul, invited Father Pollard to meet some of his future parishioners at their home. “He called it his ‘interview,’ ” Wise said. The loyal group of parishioners then began hosting ministries and small groups at each others’ homes. They helped Father Pollard set up for Mass at local schools and other churches while their church was being built.
“When you have a little parish, you do a lot of things,” Wise said.
Decades after that first parish meeting, hundreds of parishioners flocked to St. Veronica Church in Chantilly April 14 for a Mass commemorating the parish’s 25th anniversary. Mass was celebrated by Bishop Michael F. Burbidge and concelebrated by Father Dennis W. Kleinmann, pastor, and Father Joseph F. Moschetto, parochial vicar.
“Dear friends, as always, thank you for your gracious welcome,” said Bishop Burbidge. He thanked Father Kleinmann and commended the parish community’s vibrance. “This parish will always be near and dear, especially today as we honor and celebrate its 25th anniversary.”
In his homily, Father Kleinmann described the growth of the parish community. “We have been truly blessed here at St. Veronica, with our Bishop, our priests, our deacon, our seminarians over the years and with thousands of you who are faithful, dedicated parishioners, many who have been here for a while. We are blessed, and we pray that God continues to bless us.”
St. Veronica was the first parish established by Bishop Paul S. Loverde after he became bishop of Arlington June 17, 1999. Father Pollard celebrated the parish’s first Mass on the vigil of the Feast of the Assumption, Aug. 14, 1999.
Founding parishioner Peggy Diewald remembered how in the parish’s early days, she and her husband, Michael, visited Father Pollard at his rectory to help with a project. When Michael saw some blank registration paperwork on a table, he had asked Father Pollard when he was going to start registering parishioners?
“Father Pollard then said, ‘Starting right now,’ ” Peggy recalled with a laugh. The Diewalds became the first registered parishioners.
Ground was broken for the church June 22, 2003, and the church was dedicated Feb. 5, 2005. The school opened in 2004 and today there are more than 400 students.
The current church building was intended to be the narthex but was later renovated as a place of worship. Soft shades of red and blue decorate the sanctuary walls as stenciled letters overhead read: “Consider how Veronica saw him so afflicted and attended and wiped his most holy face.” Statues of Mary, St. Joseph, St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. John the Apostle, painted by former parishioner and artist Deb Lockwood, line the sanctuary. The marble altar of sacrifice, altar of repose, lectern, altar rail and baptismal font were installed and dedicated in 2018.
Multiple objects in the church contain historic roots. A number of pews were sourced from the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore. The stations of the cross, titled in German, originated from a closed Croatian church in Pennsylvania. After the parish obtained the stations, Lockwood stenciled the English titles in gold on wooden plaques below each station. She designed the six stained glass windows that depict the sacraments with a corresponding scene from the Bible.
Father Kleinmann has been pastor for nearly nine years. Despite its small size with nearly 3,900 parishioners, the parish offers confession five times a week and adoration Monday through Saturday, “and the people come,” Father Kleinmann said. “I think it’s the sacramental nature of the parish.”
The small parish has a large impact on the local community, ministering to Catholics at Fair Oaks Hospital in Fairfax and assisting low-income residents in Chantilly with basic needs. Since Father Kleinmann’s arrival in 2015, the number of nursing homes ministered by the parish has increased from one to five.
Father Kleinmann believes that over the next 25 years, the parish “will continue to be this sacramental powerhouse and (help) people grow in holiness and get to heaven.”
He reminded the parish community of their unique role in the Arlington diocese. “For 25 years, the motto of this parish has been, ‘To know, to love and to serve God.’ For 25 years, this parish, St. Veronica, I believe, has done just that: truly celebrating Our Lord, risen from the dead, and honoring Our Lady and St. Veronica, and all for the glory of God.”
