Simi Parish Celebrates Opening of New Church

The day that parishioners of St. Peter Claver Catholic Church had awaited for years finally arrived Saturday.

Celebrating the opening of the parish’s new church, more than 1,000 worshipers packed in for a three-hour special Mass said by Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, the Archbishop of Los Angeles.

“We’ve been waiting for this day for a long time,” parishioner Richard Cefola said. “This is going to be a day that I remember for the rest of my life.”

Donned in their Sunday best, churchgoers stood outside in record heat as a procession of 28 priests, white-robed altar servers, and parishioners solemnly bearing ritual objects wended toward the the white stucco Mission-style building.

As they approached the front, they made their way under crossed swords upraised by members of the Knights of Columbus.

The crowd cheered as Cardinal Mahony gave a key to St. Peter Claver’s pastor, Msgr. Gary Bauler, who threw open the doors. The cardinal said a blessing and the hushed crowd slowly entered, gazing about at the sun-filled sanctuary. As the crowd took assigned seats, the choir sang the hymn “All Are Welcome.” They then joined in prayer as various features of the church, from the holy water to the walls, were individually blessed.

An hour earlier, parishioners had enthusiastically jammed their old church, situated just steps away. Fanning themselves with their programs, they greeted each other, discussing how happy they were to see this day.

“Finally, we got it built,” said Ben Tagliamonti, a parishioner since the church’s earliest days more than 25 years ago. “This was a community affair to get this thing started, and now it is completed.”

Planning began three years ago, when the congregation began to outgrow the hall it had been using for 20 years at Cochran and Stow streets. For more than five years before that, the congregation celebrated Mass at Simi Valley High School.

The church had designated some money for construction but still needed to raise most of the required $3.2 million. It acquired a low-interest loan from the Roman Catholic Church but also held scores of bingo games and other fund-raisers.

“I’ve always said it’s been 25 years of prayer and three years of work,” said Jim Carper, chairman of the dedication committee.

Parishioners have seen their church through hard times in recent years, including the departure of two successive priests after suspected misconduct.

But those difficult days are over, and the order of the day Saturday was celebration.

“As we’ve watched this building go up, it been very exciting to see,” parish council member Mary Joy Petry said. “It was time for us really to grow and build.”