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At about the time the
US spacecraft Surveyor I was making its soft landing on the moon and Hurricane Alma was
battering the southeast coast, two very important events occurred in the religious lives
of the Chapel congregation. The first was full Parish status for the Mission Church in
Centerport, with Father James A. Green as founding Pastor. The second was its official
designation as Our Lady Queen of Martyrs by Bishop Walter Kellenberg of the Diocese of
Rockville Centre. Father Green celebrated Mass in the new Parish church for the first time
on Sunday, June 18, 1966.
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Father Green, our
dynamic, dedicated founding Pastor, died in November of 1969. On December 2 that
year, Father Joseph F. Colligan was notified verbally by Bishop Kellenberg that he was to
assume the Pastorate, and that an official letter of appointment would follow. The letter
arrived on New Year's Day, 1970, and Father Colligan was directed to "...report to
the Parish at noon on January 7, 1970." |
In 1980, thought was
given to redecorating the interior of the old Church. Except for the new wing added in
1961, it had remained virtually unchanged. The converted garage was showing its age.
Father Colligan
therefore invited a number of Parishioners experienced in interior design to make specific
recommendations. Significantly, the group's proposal required a number of small structural
changes.
Because the changes would affect the basic structure of the building, however,
engineers were consulted. To the group's chagrin and surprise, the building was judged to
be in such poor condition that only radical restoration would do.
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