Catholics in the exploding exurban community of Vail southeast of Tucson are getting a reprieve from the overcrowding that's plagued their church for years.
The Shrine of St. Rita in the Desert this Sunday will dedicate a new multipurpose building that will serve as a temporary sanctuary and give a lot more elbow room to the church's 1,500 worshippers, whose current church — a 71-year-old mission-style chapel — holds just 115. The chapel's five weekend services are typically packed, forcing some worshippers to stand outside.
Also, the original chapel never cooled to less than 85 degrees in the summer, so a new, better-insulated, air-conditioned building will be a welcome change, church leaders say.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas will preside over the 10 a.m. Mass at St. Rita's this Sunday to celebrate the opening of the new, 4,800-square-foot building, which cost $600,000 to build.
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The building is the result of a nearly six-year effort by members of the congregation, who raised money for the project mainly through donations.
"We're finally coming to the fruition of all our efforts, and I think it looks good," said the Rev. Bob Wicht, a priest from the Salvatorian religious order who has headed up the tiny adobe church since 1996, when the congregation was a mere 200 people.
"In a lot of ways, it's going to hurt not to be in the shrine. It's very pretty. So it's bittersweet."
The altar and tabernacle are made from stone from the nearby Santa Rita Mountains. The altar weighs 5 tons. Stations of the Cross made of Mexican tile in the church are from the original 1935 construction.
The church was able to acquire extra land for its expansion with more than $200,000 left in a trust by the Beach and Takamine families, for use only if St. Rita's was still attracting worshippers.
Parameters set out by the families forbade any alterations to the chapel. The church originally was built for what was then a large population of migrant Mexicans who worked on ranches and for the Southern Pacific Railroad.
No one in 1935 could have predicted the surge in Vail's population. The congregation is now mostly middle-class families with children who are moving into the subdivisions springing up around the church.
St. Rita's sits on 14 acres, and Wicht said in the next five to 10 years a new church likely will be built. He was hesitant to say how many people will be part of St. Rita's community by then.
Indicators are that the congregation will be very large.
Among land that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson sold last year as part of its Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy reorganization was 10 acres near Valencia Road and Rita Ranch on the Southeast Side that had been slated for a new parish, leaving St. Rita's as the only Catholic Church on the growing Southeast Side for at least the near future.
● The original St. Rita's sanctuary, which continues to draw tourists from around the world, will continue to be used for weekday Masses. Tourists also are often drawn to the history of the shrine, which was dedicated in 1935 to Japanese chemist Jokichi Takamine — a Buddhist who converted to Catholicism — by his widow, Caroline Takamine Beach. Takamine Beach moved to Arizona from New York City to marry Vail rancher Charles P. Beach after her first husband died in 1922.