SAINT CLEMENT CATHOLIC CHURCH HISTORY, 1912-present

St. Clement Church history began in 1912 with a Mass celebrated in the home of Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Burch on East Baker Street in Plant City. The celebrant was the Rev. Alfred Latiolais, S.J., Director of Jesuit Missions in central Florida.

Jesuit priests first were assigned to central Florida in 1888, at the request of Bishop John Moore of the Diocese of St. Augustine. Yellow Fever had taken the lives of three Tampa priests within an eleven month period. Bishop Moore also was recovering from Yellow Fever, at the time, and had no more priests to assign to Tampa. He asked the New Orleans Jesuit Province to send a Spanish speaking priest to Saint Louis Church in Tampa.

The Rev. Philip de Carriere, S.J., a survivor of Yellow Fever, volunteered to respond to the request. The 63 year old priest made a solitary trip from New Orleans through quarantined areas, arriving in October, 1888. His church in Tampa, the small, wooden St. Louis Catholic Church, located on the site of the present Sacred Heart Church, was Tampa's oldest Catholic church. It was dedicated in 1859 in honor of the Rev. Luis Cancer, a Spanish Dominican priest, who was martyred on the shores of Tampa Bay three hundred years earlier.

Father de Carriere and four Sisters of the Holy Names spent the next year ministering to approximately 2,000 Catholics who lived in Tampa and Ybor City. They also ministered to an equal number of suffering people of other faiths. All other clergy had succumbed to Yellow Fever or had fled the city. In recognition of this heroic work, Bishop Moore asked the New Orleans Jesuit Province to assume the spiritual care of all Catholics in south central Florida.

The Rev. John Quinlan, S.J. arrived in 1889 to relieve Father de Carriere and to establish a Mother House in Tampa, for the Jesuit mission area, which now includes all of Hillsborough, Polk, De Soto, Manatee, Osceola, Lee and Dade Counties. Kith the establishment of the Mother House, Jesuit priests began fifty years of mission service in central Florida and also began a continuous ministry of Jesuit pastors at Sacred Heart Church in Tampa. The Rev. Alfred Latiolais was the most active of the many Jesuit priests who served central Florida between 1889 and 1939.

      Father A. Latiolais           

Father Latiolais personally supervised the establishment of eleven mission churches between 1912 and 1923, including the Plant City Holy Name of Jesus mission church. Before 1912 other Jesuit priests had stopped occasionally in Plant City on their way to missions in Polk County. Rev. William Tyrell S.J. reported to his Superior in 1893 that he had stopped in Plant City but found no Catholics. Few Catholic families were living in Plant City at the turn of the century. Mrs. Earl Mays, a pioneer Catholic resident, reported that she came to Plant City as a bride in 1908 and found no Catholic church. She attended Sacred Heart Church in Tampa until 1912 when Father Latiolais began monthly Masses in private homes.

Upon his arrival in Plant City in 1912, Father Latiolais requested that a census be taken of all Catholic families living in eastern Hillsborough County. Dr. Butler Sanchez and Mr. John Fitzgerald completed the census. The results of that survey indicated the need for a monthly Mass in Plant City.

Mrs. Butler H. Sanchez stated in a letter dated June 6, 1955, "When I came to Plant City as a bride in 1915 there were less than a dozen Catholic families. We met in the home of Mrs. R. W. Burch (deceased now) on Baker Street about six blocks east of where the church now is. We only had Mass once a month. Fr. Latiolais from Tampa was our priest (Jesuit)."

For four years Fr. Latiolais traveled from Tampa to Plant City to celebrate monthly Mass. In 1916 he invited all Catholics in eastern Hillsborough County to meet at the Plant City armory to determine if there would be enough support to establish a mission church. Dr. Butler Sanchez had kept contact with Catholic families through visits and sick calls and had recently met with Catholic members of the large Hungarian community west of town. He invited them to the armory meeting. The Hungarian families greatly enlarged the attendance at the meeting, assuring Father Latiolais of future support of a mission church. He petitioned the New Orleans Province for permission to establish a Plant City mission but four more years passed before the church was dedicated in 1920. The monthly Masses continued in private Plant City homes. For several years they were held in the home of Mrs. Thomas Surrency on the corner of Baker and Thomas Streets. When she moved away the Jesuit Province granted permission to purchase the small, frame house for a permanent church.

St. Clements Catholic Church, originally Holy Name of Jesus Mission, first met in this former residence of Mrs.

Thomas Surrency at the site of the brick church.

Several generous donations were received for that purpose. Mr. and Mrs. R. Burch gave $1,000. Mr. John Fitzgerald gave $500. Two anonymous donors gave money and land and the Extension Society of Chicago gave $1,000. On April 30, 1920 the Surrency property was purchased for $2,750. When renovations were completed in November, Father Alfred Latiolais returned to Plant City to bless and dedicate the building as the Holy Name of Jesus mission church.

Only a few of the Jesuit priests who served as pastor of the Holy Name mission church have been identified. In addition to Fr. Latiolais, the first assigned pastor was the Rev. William A. Fillinger, S.J. The Rev. Michael McNally, S.J. was pastor when the church property was purchased. Sometime in the 1920's the Rev. Felix J. Clarkson, S.J. served as pastor. He was also pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Tampa, 1935-1939. The little Holy Name of Jesus Mission church, commonly called the Surrency house church, served Plant City's Catholic families until 1929.

That year the Bishop of St. Augustine formed a new parish for Catholics living in eastern Hillsborough and western Polk County. Boundaries of the new Bartow-Plant City parish extended east from Tampa to the area around Bartow. Father John J. Mullins was appointed founding pastor in October, 1929. Father Mull ins elected to reside in Bartow but began his duties in Plant City almost immediately. An item in the Plant City Courier in October, 1929 stated that, beginning in November, 1929 Father John J. Mullins would be in Plant City every Saturday afternoon from 4 to 5 o'clock to conduct Catechism classes and would be present each Sunday morning to celebrate Mass at 10 o'clock.

The change from mission church to parish church was appreciated by the Catholic families of Plant City. The mission church had been a blessing to the small, isolated Catholic community in 1912, but by 1929 Plant City was a progressive town with a growing Catholic population. The limited religious and spiritual offerings of the mission church no longer met the needs of the Catholic families in the area. Weekly Masses and regularly scheduled religious education classes for the children were some of the blessings of having a parish church. Father Mullins soon proposed construction of a new Holy Name of Jesus church to replace the aging Surrency house that had served as the mission church since 1920.

Diocesan approval was granted, and Plant City parishioners, under the leadership of the Altar Society and Holy Name Society, participated in a number of successful building fund projects to finance the new church. Parishioners with special skills assisted with the actual construction. The church plans included tearing down the little frame house and erecting a brick and steel church on the same site. While the new church was under construction, parishioners attended Mass in the Capitol theater in Plant City.

The first Mass was celebrated in the new brick church in May, 1931, less than two years after Father John Hull ins was appointed the founding pastor of the newest parish in the Diocese of St. Augustine. A detailed account of the First Mass was reported in the Plant City Courier of May 6, 1931:

"With a congregation which filled the new edifice to capacity, the first services were held in the newly completed Catholic church of this city on Sunday. The opening services in the church, located on the site of the former wooden structure on West Baker Street, constituted High Mass at ten o'clock Sunday morning. A choir from Winter Haven assisted in these services, conducted by Father John Mullins, rector of the church.

The church was effectively decorated with Easter lilies and white roses. Many visitors were in the congregation. Appreciation was expressed by the pastor to those responsible for the construction of the new church, especially the contractor, Mr. Emory of Winter Haven, and individual workmen who did the actual construction. The attractive brick church, seating between 250 and 260 persons, has a steel superstructure throughout. The church was constructed in 18 working days and cost approximately $7,500."

Father Mullins announced that the formal dedication of the new church would be on October 25, 1931, the Feast of Christ the King, with Bishop Patrick Barry officiating. Abbot Francis of St. Leo Abbey and the Rev. Dennis Lyons of Jacksonville would assist at the dedication. High Mass would follow the blessing of the church and the official name of the church would become St. Clement Catholic Church.

A complete report of the Saint Clement Church dedication was printed in the Plant City Courier. October 27, 1931:

"With brief ceremony, simple yet impressive, St. Clement Catholic Church was dedicated Sunday morning by the Rev. Patrick Barry of St. Augustine, assisted by the pastor Rev. John Mullins, by Rev. Thomas Colreavy of Clearwater and the Rev. Joseph Farley of Lakeland. By 9:30 when the services began, the building was filled with parishioners and visitors from other Plant City churches and from Bartow, Lakeland, Tampa and St. Petersburg. The main altar and two smaller altars were beautiful with their glowing tapers, vases of red roses and trailing asparagus fern, the artistic work of the ladies of the Altar Society. The bishop, splendid in liturgical vestments of white and gold, with miter and staff, began the ceremonies by blessing the entrance portals. Then preceded by an altar boy carrying the crucifix and followed by boys with lighted candles, the bishop walked around the building blessing the walls and four corners. The procession then advanced to the altar where the Litany of the Saints was chanted in Latin. Acolytes Thomas McGuire and George Hartineau of St. Leo assisted with the service. Special hymns were sung by Mr. Fred Keune and Mrs. B. O'Connor of Lakeland.

Bishop Barry announced that the new church was now dedicated as the house of God, under the protection, patronage and name of Saint Clement in deference to the Extension Society of Chicago who had given a large donation and requested that name. The congregation was reminded that the church was at all times open to everyone, regardless of creed, nationality or color, and its pulpit would never be used as a political platform. As a house of God, the building would be entered with humility and used only as a place of worship and to administer the sacraments to the faithful, from baptism to funeral rites. From the Gospel for the Feast of Christ the King, Bishop Barry reminded the faithful to 'Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's' by obeying the laws of the land and of God.*

An interview with Mrs. R. J. Fitzgerald, one of the pioneer Catholic residents of Plant City, was included in the Courier report of the church dedication. Mrs. Fitzgerald related items of historical interest. She told of the earliest Catholic services in Plant City being conducted on an irregular basis by visiting priests in private homes. She said the first regular priest was Fr. Latiolais "now in Macon." The Surrency house* fitted with an altar and pews was the first Catholic church in Plant City. The first baby baptized there was Martha Mary Farabaugh, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Farabaugh of Cork. The first marriage was that of Mr. and Mrs. Bamberg, "now residing in Groveland."

A major milestone of St. Clement church history was reached in 1931 with the dedication of the little brick church on Nest Baker Street. For the next 45 years that church was the center of worship, spiritual guidance and social activity for two generations of Catholic families in Plant City. From the dedication in 1931 through the "Depression Years," membership and church facilities gradually expanded. A rectory and social hall were added and after 1936 the pastor of the Bartow-Plant City parish resided in Plant City. The Bartow church became a mission of St. Clement until a new parish was formed there several years later.

Total concentration was on the war effort during the 1940's. Many St. Clement parishioners and some priests left to serve in the military or in defense industries. Church activity centered around the changes brought on by war. Service personnel stationed near Plant City regularly attended Mass at St. Clement Church. Each Sunday morning military troops, transported in trucks, filled the church for the Mass reserved especially for then. Dances and other social affairs were arranged by the church for service personnel. Many parishioners also supported USO and other community services related to the war effort.

by war's end came the beginning of Florida's rapid population growth which soon was reflected in Catholic churches throughout the state. Archbishop Joseph P. Hurley, with great foresight, began purchasing large tracts of land in central Florida for the future expansion of the Diocese of St. Augustine. His concern for the future led to the timely purchase in 1958 of a tract of land on Alexander Street on the outskirts of Plant City. That land is the site of the present St. Clement Catholic church complex.

The Alexander Street land purchase, dated April 14, 1958 and signed by the Sellers, the Johnson family, and the Buyer, Archbishop Joseph P. Hurley, was for property officially described as: "The Northwest quarter of the Northwest quarter of Section 29, Township 28 South, Range 22 East containing 40 acres more or less in Hillsborough County, Florida, less that portion thereof deeded to the State Road Department for right of way purposes." The price was $27,500.

Archbishop Hurley was also responsible for creating many new parishes and establishing the new Diocese of Miami in 1958 and the Diocese of St. Petersburg in 1968. In a decade Florida had grown from a single Catholic diocese to three. Bishop Charles Mclaughlin was the founding bishop of the huge Diocese of St. Petersburg, which reached from Crystal River on the north to Fort Myers in the south. St. Clement and all other parishes in Hillsborough County became part of the west Florida diocese.

At the death of Bishop Mclaughlin in 1978, Vicar-General V. Thomas Larkin was appointed Bishop of St. Petersburg. The large diocese was divided in 1984, with the southern section becoming the Diocese of Venice. Ill health forced Bishop Larkin's retirement in 1988, and Bishop John C. Favalora, of New Orleans, became the third Bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg. Bishop Favalora currently ministers to more than 350,000 Catholics in 76 parishes in 5 west central Florida counties.

During the period of rapid change in the Diocese of St. Augustine, St. Clement parish was progressing more slowly. Between 1950 when Archbishop Hurley began purchasing land for expansion and 1968 when St. Clement became part of the new Diocese of St. Petersburg, little had changed in the Plant City parish except a gradual increase in church membership from approximately 70 families to about 125 families. The brick church and the frame social hall and rectory were aging and in need of repairs, but they were still adequate for most parish needs.

Population changes in nearby areas did affect St. during the 1950's and early 1960's.  Bartow became a separate parish and no longer a mission of St. Clement. During that same period a small parish in Brandon was formed and was designated I the bishop as a mission of St. Clement.

For several years in the 1950's, priests and parishioners of St. Clement parish actively aided the development of Nativity parish. However, Nativity's location, in a rapidly growing suburb of Tampa, meant that the little mission parish soon would surpass St. Clement in membership. Nativity soon was large enough to support an elementary school, which many St. Clement children attended.

By 1960 plans were underway for a new St. Clement church center to be built on the Alexander Street property. At that time, the church property was outside the city limits, making site preparation an expensive process. Utilities had to be extended into the area before work could begin. A building fund of $135,000 was the amount needed for diocesan approval of the project. The St. Clement expansion project was a major financial undertaking for a parish with fewer than 100 families, but determination was evident in the many fund raising projects that were supported by the parishioners in the decade of the 1960's.

The Rev. David Cronin had been pastor since 1963 and had approved many building projects before 1973, his tenth year as pastor. That year was to become noteworthy in St. Clement Church history. Parishioner Lani Purcell presented a new project for Fr. Cronin's approval. The Plant City Strawberry Festival Committee would permit St. Clement Church to sell strawberry shortcakes at the festival. Proceeds would be used for the church building fund. Lani Purcell outlined a project plan, which included preparing strawberries at the church, transporting them to the fairgrounds and allowing fairgoers to make their own strawberry shortcakes in the St. Clement booth.

This unique plan was approved by the pastor, and parishioners volunteered to work at the church hall or the church booth each day of the festival. That was the beginning of the famous St. Clement "Make Your Own Strawberry Shortcake" project, which greatly influenced the growth of the nationally acclaimed Plant City Strawberry Festival, and which became the basic source of income for all future St. Clement Catholic Church building projects. The financial returns from the first strawberry shortcake booth were modest, but the enthusiasm generated at the festival and among Parishioners created an atmosphere of unity and fellowship that brought amazing financial success to future St. Clement "Make Your Own Strawberry Shortcake" projects.

Ground was broken for the Alexander Street St. Clement Church in August, 1976. A personal pledge campaign raised the final $75,000 needed to begin construction. The church center, designed by Cesar Alfonso of Tampa was a Spanish style, 11,000 square feet multipurpose building containing a large hall to seat 500 for parish events. Moveable walls provided space for CCD classes and a separate sanctuary and sacristy. The center and furnishings cost an estimated $325,000. Father Cronin celebrated the first Mass in the new church on Easter Sunday, 1977, and he was the presiding pastor at the dedication on September 25, 1977. Bishop Charles Mclaughlin of the Diocese of St. Petersburg officiated. In June, 1979 Father Cronin was appointed pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Punta Gorda, Florida. During the sixteen years he served as pastor, St. Clement membership increased from 100 to more than 300 families and a very large expansion program had been completed.

The decade of the 1980's began with concentration on furnishing the new church and planning a new rectory. With approval of the diocese, the combination, office building and rectory, was completed in 1982. The new office-rectory was to be the final building of the Alexander Street church expansion; in reality, it was the beginning of a decade long, continuous construction program which will terminate sometime in the 1990's with the construction of a large, new St. Clement Catholic Church. The population explosion arrived at St. Clement parish in the 1980's. The parish membership doubled. The new church center, which seemed so large and functional in 1977, was overcrowded by 1982. Classrooms for religious education classes were the most obvious need. Parishioners and the pastor, Fr. Avelino Garcia, concentrated their efforts between 1980 and 1984 on constructing a separate education building to accommodate the fast growing CCD enrollment. A beautiful Spanish style building, designed by Cesar Alfonso of Tampa and constructed by Calmar Communities General Contractors, was completed in 1986 at a cost of approximately $400,000, half of which came from proceeds from the annual strawberry shortcake project. The education building containing 12 classrooms, a library, two offices, kitchen and two storage areas, was dedicated March 22, 1986 with Bishop V. Thomas Larkin officiating. He was assisted by Rev. Eric Hunter, St. Clement pastor, by Rev. James Lara, pastor of Nativity Church, Brandon and Rev. Christopher Fitzgerald, pastor of St. Anne's Church, Ruskin.

In 1987 the proceeds from the strawberry shortcake festival were used to purchase a tract of land adjoining church property. That land, officially described as:

"The N. K. 1/4 of the N. K. 1/4 of Section 29, Township 28 South, Range 22 East, Hillsborough County, Florida" belonged to Mrs. Janice Thomas, a former parishioner. The purchase price was $85,000. The additional land was needed to insure adequate space for the new, large St. Clement Catholic Church. Preliminary planning was already underway, with the pastor, Fr. Eric Hunter and the church building committee concentrating on environmental and architectural studies for the proposed, $2.5 million church, which would seat between 1,000 and 1,200 worshipers. In 1989 Fr. Hunter was appointed pastor of Incarnation Church in Tampa. Since 1989, Fr. Hugh F. Lagan has guided the steady progress toward the actual construction of the new church, which will complete the impressive St. Clement Catholic Church complex on Alexander Street in Plant City, Florida.

St. Clement Hall was rededicated, “The Fr. David B. Cronin Hall,” in October of 2004 by Bishop Robert Lynch, the fourth bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, in honor of our twelfth pastor and on the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the establishment of St. Clement as a parish and our ninety-second year of serving the community of Plant City.

Recent history:

- A residence for the priests of the parish was purchased.

- A carillon system is installed at the church.

- George Pasada completes Tabernacle for Church.

- The St. Clement Three Year Pastoral Plan, Disciples Mission Statement, and Ministry Statement are developed.

- Three portables were installed for additional meeting space: for

adult formation, a Knights of Columbus meeting room, and a youth room.

- Cronin Hall: interior painted, ceiling tiles replaced, air-conditioner installed in kitchen, bathrooms refurbished,

and carpet replaced on stage.

- New building for My Brother's Keeper dedicated in memory of George Zoffinger.

- Church office named the Loyola Building in honor of the contribution of the Society of Jesus in founding the parish.  A reception room was added to the church offices.

- Vincent Gilmartin, Fred Balough, Cris Stout, Judy Zink, Dr. Michael Salvato, and Michael Wilson graduated from the Lay Pastoral Institute

- Cris Stout accepted as candidate for the permanent diaconate program.

- Chapel renamed Holy Name of Jesus Chapel.  St. Clement was originally named Holy Name of Jesus Mission.

- Education Building painted and classrooms named in honor of the saints.

- A new sound system was installed in the church.

- Statues of of St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe were obtained for the church.  The painting of the Our Lady of Guadalupe was moved to the inside of the church.

- Hawkins Construction Company refurbishes the tile in the church sanctuary.

- A painting of the Divine Mercy was donated for the inside of the church.

- Stained glass was donated for the windows inside of the church.

- A new baptismal font installed in the narthex.

- A location map of parish buildings to guide visitors was installed at the entrance of the church property.

- Positions for Pastoral Care and Cronin Hall, Volunteer/Welcome Ministry, and Small Christian Community Coordinator added.

- Fr. Carlos Rojas was assigned by Bishop Robert Lynch on May 20, 2006.  The first newly ordained priest to be assigned to St. Clement.

- Sr. Charlotte Hobelman, SND accepts the new position of Director of Hispanic Apostolate/Migrant Ministry.

- Permission is received from Bishop Lynch to construct a covent on the lot owned by the parish on Ferrell St.

- Jonathan Emery accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of St. Petersburg and enters St. John Vianney Seminary in Miami, Fl.

- Tim Cummings, IV Theologian,is assigned by Bishop Robert Lynch for a pastoral year at St. Clement.

- Summer of 2006: Mission Team completes work in Mexico.

- St. Clement begins the Envision process for pastoral planning

- A statue of St. Jude was added to the chapel.

- St. Clement statue was placed in the church and blessed and on

November 23, 2006.

-St. Clement is granted a HUD grant through the Diocese of St. Petersburg and Catholic Charities to construct 68 units for very low-income elderly persons. The project features a three-story building with 68 one-bedroom units, a community room for social activities and a common laundry area. The construction design will incorporate visitability and universal design standards. Management staff will facilitate access to a wide variety of supportive services that will allow the residents to live as independently as possible.

Jesuit priests who served during the Holy Name of Jesus Mission days:

Rev. Alfred Latiolas, S.J.

Rev. William Fillinger, S.J.

Rev. Michael McNally, S.J.

Rev. Felix J. Clarksin, S.J.

Pastors of Saint Clement Catholic Church, 1929-to the present

Rev. John J. Mullins, founding pastor (1929-1933)

Rev. Michael Fennell (1933-1934)

Rev. A. M. McGowan (1934-1939)

Rev. Peter Reynolds (1939-1941)

Rev. Maurus Cook, O.S.B (1941-1942)

Rev. William H. Neuhaus (1943-1950)

Rev. John V. O'Sullivan (1950-1952)

Rev. Paul Woodyard (1952-1953)

Rev. Robert A. Hostler (1953-1956)

Rev. John Lima (1956-1961)

Rev. John X. Linnehan (1962-1963)

Rev David Cronin (1963-1979)

Rev Thomas Earner (1979-1980)

Rev. Avelino Garcia (1980-1984)

Rev. Eric Hunter (1984-1989)

Rev. Hugh Lagan (1989-1999)

Rev. Thomas Spillett (1999-2002)

Rev. Thomas T. Morgan (2002-2007

Rev. Thomas J. Anastasia (2007 - currently serving)