A blessed occasion: St. Julie Billiart Church celebrates 50 years




FIVE DECADES—The Most Rev. José H. Gomez, archbishop of Los Angeles, exits St. Julie Billiart Catholic Church in Newbury Park after presiding over Mass on Oct. 27. WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers

Members of St. Julie Billiart Catholic Church in Newbury Park celebrated the parish’s 50th anniversary last month by making preparations for the congregation’s next 50 years.

After Mass on Oct. 27, Archbishop José Gomez of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles turned the first shovel of earth in a groundbreaking for a new outdoor gathering space and plaza. The shovel Gomez wielded wasn’t bought for the occasion—it had been used over the past 20 years during the parish’s frequent mission trips to build over 100 homes in Mexico.

Mario Ferruzza, a founding member of the parish, has attended St. Julie’s ever since. He’s thrown himself into volunteering for several of the church’s ministries, including the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, to keep busy since his wife, Beatrice, died seven years ago.

“I’m very grateful,” the Newbury Park resident said. “I just wish my wife was here to see it.”

St. Julie’s was founded in 1969 after residents of the western Conejo Valley petitioned the archdiocese to create a parish for the Catholic families in Newbury Park who had to drive to Thousand Oaks or Camarillo, or cram into the tiny chapel at Mary Health of the Sick to attend Mass.

St. Julie’s held its services at Manzanita Elementary School, now Earths Magnet School, until work was completed on the church on Borchard Road.

The parish’s patron saint was canonized in June 1969. The parish near the 101 Freeway was the first to be named after Julie Billiart, who founded the Sisters of Notre Dame, the same order that established La Reina Academy, now La Reina High and Middle schools.

FIVE DECADES—Clare, 3, and her father, Jason Coito of Simi Valley, marvel at the parish anniversary cake.

Today, the church supports over 35 ministries in the community, including hosting meals and an overnight shelter program for the local homeless population, as well as a mission school in Uganda. The church also ministers to the sick and the grieving.

Janet Roach is a charter member of St. Julie’s. The Newbury Park resident said that when she was growing up in New England she used to pray for the then-Blessed Julie Billiart to be canonized.

“This was the first church named after her when she became a saint,” Roach said. “So I knew I was home.”

In a letter to the parish, St. Julie’s pastor, the Rev. Paul Hruby, said the 50-year milestone is a reminder of the words of Pope St. John Paul II, who said the parish is not a structure, territory or building, but rather “the family of God.”

St. Julie’s had a membership of around 570 families at its start. Fifty years later, membership has swelled to over 1,800 families.

On Sunday afternoon at the end of Mass, Hruby acknowledged the members who have been part of St. Julie’s since it started.

“St. Julie’s is truly the miracle of God’s love, and we see that manifest in so many ways,” he said.

Hruby told the Acorn he hopes the church will continue to benefit the wider community for the next 50 years and that the parish will “provide a place of authentic community” in the face of diminishing religious affiliation in the U.S.

He said serving the Newbury Park parish for the past 10 years has been a privilege.