Hialeah's St. Cecilia Church Re-Opens

HIALEAH (CBSMiami) – Tears, cheers and applause flowed freely Sunday evening at St. Cecilia's Church when Archbishop Tomas Wenski reopened one of the diocese's oldest churches in Hialeah after a two year closure.

St. Cecilia was one of several churches closed in 2009 under the recession. Archbishop Wenski said after much prayer and reflection he decided to reopen a total of four South Florida Catholic churches.

"I would have liked to open all of them back. But I did what I could and I was able to open four," said Wenski. "They were poor parishes and areas of some economic distress and I think it's a way of showing that the church wants to be resent among the poor and therefore it's an important sign that we are here."

The church, located at 1040 West 29 Street celebrated a special mass Sunday.

Lidia Diaz grew up at St. Cecilia's Church.

"Today was a very important day to heal those wounds of when this church closed," said Diaz. "I did all my sacraments here: my baptism, my communion, my confirmation and I hope to one day get married here. So I was very sad when it closed."

Italian-born Father Emanuele De Nigris, the newly appointed pastor at St. Cecilia, was ordained for the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. in 2005. The church will temporarily serve as the residence for the Redemptoris Mater seminarians (Mother of Our Redeemer), a seminary dedicated to the formation of missionaries.

"I am happy to be of service to the Archdiocese of Miami in reopening this parish" by serving as pastor, said Father De Nigris who added that the "parish committed to the new evangelization"

Father De Nigris will also serve as the rector of the seminary opening in January 2012 with 12 seminarians. The seminary is the seventh redemptoris mater missionary seminary in the U.S.

Set in the heart of Hialeah since 1971, the Archdiocese said St. Cecilia Church will serve the growing Catholic population of mostly Cuban exiles and Latin American immigrants.