John XXIII Parish came into existence on September 3, 2000, the same date as the beatification of Blessed Pope John XXIII. The need for a new parish to serve the needs of the growing Catholic population on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids (particularly in St. Jude Parish) and in the southwest area of Linn County led to the creation of John XXIII Parish. On Sunday, Sept. 3, 2000, Archbishop Jerome Hanus celebrated with a small group of parishioners at Taft Middle School for the first Mass in the new parish.
The parish used Taft Middle School for over three years as plans were made to build an adequate facility on the new parish property on 80th St., S.W. A multi-purpose center--consisting of a church, parish center, kitchen, and offices--were designed by Novak Design Group and built by Kleiman Construction Company. Archbishop Hanus blessed our new church on February 1, 2004. The current church will adequately serve the needs of the growing parish for a few years, but plans call for a larger church to eventually be built just to the west of the current facility.
|
