CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — This morning hundreds of people gathered for the first service since a fire damaged a beloved church in Casa Grande.
Members of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church came together Sunday morning for the first time for mass after a fire ignited in the main worship area on Friday. The historical church is now covered in soot and ash and windows are boarded up.
“It’s hard,” said Betty Zambrano, who was raised in the church. “I cried when I learned about it, went home and told my husband, and I said this is sad.
Reality is sinking in for longtime members of the church like Lynn Wilson.
“Grief and just immense sadness,” she said. “I’m still in disbelief, even though I can see the damage to the church, I’m still in disbelief.”
The news came as a shock for those visiting from out of town.
“Sad… feel sorry for the parish,” said Norman Papaj, visiting from New York with his wife Kimberly.
According to the Casa Grande Fire Department, the fire started near the west side of the church close to the electronic and music area and quickly spread, causing damage to the main worship space. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
For now, mass is being held in the church’s community center.
“It’s very saddening and devastating for all of us, because this is our life,” said Father Ariel Lustan, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church.
He was stunned to learn what happened but said now investigators are working to determine what sparked the fire.
“They are not ruling out the possibility of arson,” he said. “…but they cannot confirm that just yet.”
The cost of the damage and the church's designation as a "place of worship" is why police detectives and ATF investigators are assisting in the investigation.
“I’m hoping that it was just an accident, and it wasn’t an arson or anything like that,” said Papaj. “I really would hate to see that someone would have gone to that length to do something like this.”
But the community isn’t letting what happened determine how the church will operate going forward.
“This fire did not stop us,” said Lustan. “We continue our liturgical life, our masses, quinceañeras, weddings, funerals… they will continue as scheduled.”
Ariel said he’s grateful for the outpouring of community prayers and support.
“We will rise from this,” he said.
While the fire caused significant damage, it didn’t destroy the memories at this place of worship.
“God is going to show us the way to go,” said Wilson. “This not just concrete and mortar, we’re going to build on that, and that’s our faith.”
Wilson, who’s part of the national organization The Catholic Daughters of the Americas, is going to make sure they continue to raise money for the parish going forward.
“I can promise you that this court will do a lot of hard work, in order to make sure that happens,” she said.
While this may be a setback, their faith remains strong.
“They will rebuild and hopefully come back stronger than they were before,” said Papaj. “The church is just a building, and the parish is the people.”
The focus now is rising above the ashes.
“We can come back from the ashes as the father said,” said Zambrano.
St. Anthony’s also has a Catholic school, but it is located in a separate building and was not impacted by the fire.
As for mass, Father Ariel said it’s planned as usual for Sundays looking ahead, with mass in English at 6:30, 8, and 10 am on Sunday morning and in Spanish at noon and 2 pm.
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