St. Julia Parish Turns 50 Years Old

Friar Justin Biase preaching at St. Julia Parish in Siler City, North Carolina

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of St. Julia Parish in Siler City, North Carolina. The local Catholic community commemorated this very special occasion on June 5^th with a Mass, which was celebrated by the Bishop of Raleigh, The Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge. Franciscan Friar Jim Jukes – the pastor of St. Julia – and Friar Justin Biase – Minister Provincial of the Franciscans’ Immaculate Conception Province – concelebrated the Mass with the Bishop. Friar Justin also delivered the homily. In it he spoke kindly about St. Julia’s parishioners opening their church to immigrants who often feel like outsiders in their new communities. His homily was both in English and Spanish.

The celebration of Catholic Masses in Siler City stretches back nearly 60 years. The town’s first Catholic Mass was celebrated in 1953 in the private home of a Mrs. Charles Ellis. Eventually a group of local families pooled their resources and purchased several adjoining lots of land on which the community erected a mission church. This happened in 1961. St. Julia became the church’s patron saint.

A community practicing its faith at St. Julia Parish

The first two and a half decades saw St. Julia Parish develop at a very tempered pace.  In the late 1980s, however, many Spanish-speaking Catholics began moving to the Siler City area.  They also started coming to St. Julia’s to practice their faith. As a result of this by 1989, the parish was celebrating Masses in Spanish. A bilingual nun named Sister Anita Guiterrez joined the parish a year later to work as its pastoral administrator.

In the 1990s, St. Julia Parish grew larger and larger with each coming year. By the middle of the decade parishioners could not fit into the church building. Agnes and Walter Bunton – two long-time St. Julia parishioners – wanted to help their church. They did so by generously donating 64 acres for the construction of a new church building just outside of Siler City. By 2001, a new St Julia Church stood on this property.  It continues to thrive today, serving a mostly Spanish-speaking community.

(Source of all related images on webpage and homepage: www.dioceseofraleigh.org.)