St. Peregrine breaks ground on new church and shrine

by Laura Straub

Saint Peregrine Church and Academy held a groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 16 to celebrate the launch of its new church and shrine to St. Peregrine.

“Today marks the realization of 20 years of planning and fundraising, 20 years of

effort, working towards an eternity of impact,” said Fr. Charles Deister at the ceremony. “It is our hope and dream that for all of Northeast Ohio St. Peregrine Church will be a beacon of light, a symbol of hope and an ark of truth in a world that searches for it every day.”

Plans to build the church began in the early 2000s, at completion of the academy building on West Streetsboro Road. But in 2005, fundraising efforts stalled and the project was paused.

“In 2015, after years of slow but consistent financial support from parishioners, it became feasible to focus on completing the work of building a church, which was begun a decade earlier,” said Deister. “The church is expected to be completed by summer of 2021 and entirely funded by the generosity of St. Peregrine’s benefactors.”

The building began to take shape when St. Peregrine assembled a design and construction team made up of John Elsey, with GBC Design in Akron; Jamie Craddock of Craddock Construction in Doylestown; and Pat McNeill with REM Construction Services of Wadsworth.

“As an architect, I was honored to be a part of this project,” said Elsey. “This beautiful Romanesque church is reminiscent of those timeless European churches from centuries ago but still endure. I am grateful for the opportunity to design such a historical church.”

Speaking on behalf of the team, McNeill added that the project was also meaningful on a personal level.

“I am a Catholic, and the design of St. Peregrine’s resembles the church of my youth,’’ he said.  “It is so meaningful to our team to be a part of this on a very personal level.”

The church also plans to construct a shrine to St. Peregrine, patron saint of those suffering from cancer, in response to the relative lack of shrines to a patron of a disease that so many suffer from.

According to Deister, the new church and shrine will further cultivate the St. Peregrine community.

“We expect tremendous growth both in the academy and in the faithful attending the Latin Mass in our new church,” he said. “Many benefactors are not currently affiliated with St. Peregrine’s but are supporting the new church project because they desire to become parishioners once the church is complete.”

St. Peregrine Church is a chapel of the Society of Saint Pius the Tenth. The SSPX is an international order of nearly 700 priests dedicated to the traditional Catholic sacraments and the Latin Mass. With few Catholic churches offering Latin Mass, St. Peregrine’s offers a central location for Northeast Ohio parishioners. Though the SSPX is an order of Catholic priests, it maintains cooperative relationships with Catholic diocesan officials. The church is not listed as one of the diocesan Catholic churches.

St. Peregrine’s began celebrating Latin Masses in the Richfield in 2000, when the parish purchased eight acres just west of I-271.

In fall 2002, St. Peregrine Academy began its first academic year, welcoming 40 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The academy steadily grew to more than 80 students.

With a new church and shrine, St. Peregrine will further engrain itself as an important part of the Richfield community, which in the last decade also became home to Hindu, Buddhist and Jane temples.

Feature image photo caption: A groundbreaking ceremony was held on the property of Saint Peregrine Chapel and Academy on Route 303 for a Romanesque- style church. Photo by S. Serdinak