Holy Name of Jesus Parish in Harrisburg, Pa., is building a
new church that is expected to be completed later this year.
The church will seat 1,400 people, making it one of the
largest churches in the Harrisburg Diocese. The new church
will have a beautiful marble altar, ambo, baptistery and
tabernacle stand thanks to a connection made with the
Arlington Diocese.
The story begins in 1905 with the opening of Immaculata
Seminary near Tenley Circle in Washington, D.C., under the
auspices of the Sisters of Providence. Cardinal James Gibbons
of Baltimore blessed the school amid much fanfare.
The all-girls school flourished until the 1970s when changing
demographics led to a drop in enrollment. The school closed
its doors in 1986 and the property was sold to nearby
American University, which renovated the existing buildings
to accommodate offices and classrooms. The old school chapel,
which was built in 1921, contained the marble altar, two side
altars and other sacred items, which the university did not
need.
Father Robert J. Rippy, then chancellor of the Arlington
Diocese, got a phone call asking if the diocese was
interested in the items. The diocese, then in the midst of a
population boom, paid to have the altar disassembled and
placed in storage, where it sat for more than a decade.
Unfortunately, the altar was unable to find a permanent home
in a local church. But Arlington’s loss is Harrisburg’s gain.
Holy Name of Jesus Parish celebrated its golden anniversary
last November by breaking ground for its new church. Members
of the parish building committee began searching the country
for a marble altar that might fit the style of the new
church.
Parishioners Brian and Mary Metzger, Kathy Johnston, and
Diane Skurkis came to Arlington last month with their pastor,
Father Edward Quinlan, to inspect the old altar and other
marble pieces that will soon have a new home in Harrisburg.
An altar of this caliber would probably cost about $250,000,
according to Shelton Alley, with Vincente Stone Inc., a brick
and stone restoration and cleaning contractor in Reston.
The diocese is selling the altar to the parish “for a nominal
fee,” said Tim Cotnoir, diocesan finance officer.
Alley took photos of the altar, labeled the pieces and
disassembled it for storage. He will help Holy Name of Jesus
give the altar a second life by putting the marble puzzle
back together again.
