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| July 26, 2008 |
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EXPLORING PARISH CHURCHES Pensacola’s St. John the Evangelist perseveres
In this article, the fourth in a series on historic parishes in the Diocese of Pensacola - Tallahassee, the Florida Catholic reviews the history of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 303 South Navy Blvd, Pensacola. PENSACOLA | With the 1825 installation of a Navy yard in Warrington, a suburb southwest of Pensacola, St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church established its roots in 1851 as the third oldest parish in the diocese. Although St. John shares this title with St. Patrick Catholic Church in Apalachicola, its significance lies in its constant growth as a vibrant community. The Navy yard in Warrington attracted enough Catholics to the area to validate a neighboring church to St. Michael the Archangel in Pensacola. Because many of the original settlers in Warrington were Spanish and Irish, an estimated 90 percent of the population was Catholic. Previous Articles In This Series To accommodate this large number, in 1850 the secretary of the Navy approved the construction of a Warrington Catholic church. The women of Warrington held a July 4 fair to raise the funds, entertaining guests with dinner and dancing. Nearly one year later, on May 4, 1851, Father Claude Rampon, representative of Bishop Michael Portier of Mobile, dedicated St. John the Evangelist Church. Father Dominic M. Manucy served as the first pastor. For 10 years the Warrington parish thrived without major disasters plaguing its progress. But when the Civil War erupted, it became a harrowing time for the people of St. John. After Union forces bombarded Fort Pickens across Pensacola Bay, the church burned. Still, parishioners were not defeated. Five years later, after the war’s end, they constructed a second church in the name of St. John the Evangelist. As a result of the commitment of the Sisters of St. Joseph, the parish continued to grow with the institution of St. John’s Academy in 1874. Four years later, the Sisters of Mercy took over. Another four years after the change, St. John Parish fell to fire. Parishioners persevered, and in 1884 they built a third church. Bishop Dominic M. Manucy, who had since been elevated to Bishop of Mobile, dedicated the building. During the time that St. John rebuilt its parish, the Warrington Navy Yard was affected by the Spanish-American War, a yellow fever epidemic, a 1906 hurricane and a decrease in the need for wooden ships, which they supplied. It closed in 1911. When it reopened in 1914, the assistant secretary of the Navy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commissioned it an Aeronautical Station. To free waterfront land for the building of seaplane ramps and hangars during WWI, parishioners had to move their church to a new site in Old Warrington. It wasn’t long before the government once again requested that parishioners relocate St. John the Evangelist. In 1931, the church moved to its present-day site. With increased enrollment, St. John School built a new brick building in 1948 as well as a convent and auditorium. Growth was a constant theme in the early days of St. John. An increase in parishioners led to the building of a larger church, which was dedicated on May 6, 1973. This new church took the place of the 1931 building, and the parish had the rectory turned 90 degrees from its forward-facing position on Navy Boulevard to face south. Today, Father Joseph P. Callipare serves as pastor over a congregation of 271 registered families. He offers a Saturday vigil Mass at 4 p.m. and Sunday Masses at 8 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. (Spanish). He also offers weekday Masses Monday through Thursday at 8:15 a.m. To contact St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, call 850-455-0356. Dr. Carlisle Semmes, diocesan archivist, assisted with research for this article. Information sources included: • “The Cross in the Sand” by Michael V. Gannon, published in 1965 by University of Florida Press. • “St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church: Celebrating 150 Years of Faith and Service” by the parish, published in 2001 by Church Family Albums.
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