A New Family Name!

Recently we voted for a Family name to identify our four parishes. This was part of the Beacons of Light initiative. The Archdiocese wants Families of Parishes to have a more personal identification than just a number and letter. In our case, our alphanumeric identification has been SE5 ( for South East Region #5).

We had a total of 189 votes. The top two were Holy Family with 78 votes and Holy Cross with 63 votes. These two names were submitted to the Chancery office for approval by the Archbishop. The Archbishop approved the name Holy Family. There is another parish family with this name; it is a single-parish Family located in Dayton. That parish is run by the Fraternity of St. Peter, who only offers the Traditional Latin Mass.

We will begin using this new name (Holy Family) to describe our Parish Region/Family: Holy Family, Clermont Co. Each parish and the school will continue to keep its name, and the churches will always retain their name -- even when we become a single parish. Again, the name is simply an umbrella that identifies the unity of our four parishes. So, moving forward when we address Our Parish Family it will be identified as Holy Family. The locations of Masses and other events will continue to be identified by the name of that parish in which those events and activities are being held.

Although, The Holy Family is generally understood as Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, our name reflects the holiness of our individual Patrons. It is also important to understand that our new Family name may not be the name we end up with when we become a single parish. At that point, we will have to resubmit the name again for the Archbishop approval. By then, he may decide on a different name, but that won’t happen for quite a while. Thanks to all who took the time to vote.

Blessings!

Fr. Thomas H. McCarthy