ATLANTA—As a boy, Father Rey Pineda received religious education every Saturday at Christ the King Hispanic Mission, meeting in a community center among the apartments off Lindbergh Drive. Then he and his siblings and cousins stuck around for the afternoon to attend Mass in that “magical” but cramped place where he discovered his faith.

“It was a small space, no air conditioning. We would always make do, would have groups outside and inside. My first confession was in a closet they used as a vestry,” recalled Father Pineda, a native of Guerrero, Mexico, whose family began attending the mission after moving to Atlanta in 1994 from Los Angeles.

“We didn’t have much, but we felt really well taken care of by the people, by the sister who was there. It was a really special place,” he said.

Mission director Sister Maria Jesus Sagaseta, a member of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, once told his aunt he’d become a priest.

Approximately 1,000 people were present for the Sept. 13 blessing and dedication of the Cathedral of Christ the King Hispanic Mission in northeast Atlanta. Photo By Michael Alexander

“I didn’t really think about it, but it was nice to have her affection and care. Down the road, when I really started considering and discerning, that was a moment it was good for me to go back to,” added Father Pineda, who is now a parochial vicar at St. Lawrence Church.

“A lot of my respect for the church and what I saw from the church was first (experienced) there. I saw sisters and priests and catechists and families and the choir. It was so small you really were always in it. It shaped my understanding of church and community.”

Now Father Pineda and other supporters are celebrating the mission’s move from the bare bones facility to a more “dignified space” to continue that vital pastoral outreach to area Hispanics.

New mission space blessed Sept. 13

After ministering near the Lindbergh area apartments for over two decades, the Cathedral of Christ the King relocated its mission in June to a renovated nearly 12,000-square-foot space in the back of the Northeast Plaza at 3349 Buford Highway in Brookhaven.

And building on that foundation, the mission now also welcomes many newcomers pouring in as word spreads along the Buford Highway corridor. Attendance has nearly tripled for the Sunday 9:30 a.m. Mass to over 500, and on a recent Sunday hundreds trekked to church by foot and bus through heavy rain.

“It’s kind of amazing to see people caught in all the wet weather still coming. That is beautiful,” said Hispanic ministry coordinator Angela Almario. “At the Mass at 9:30 it started raining. Last weekend it was raining so hard even the greeters and mini-greeters were handing out towels, passing them to people to dry their faces and arms.”

Followed by master of ceremonies Deacon Joe Pupo of St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Alpharetta, Bishop Luis Zarama walks through the congregation blessing them with holy water. Photo By Michael Alexander

The mission overflowed on Sunday, Sept. 13, with over 1,000 people attending when Bishop Luis R. Zarama celebrated the Mass of inauguration. Among the concelebrants were Msgr. Frank McNamee, the rector of the Cathedral of Christ the King, and Father Feiser Muñoz, parochial vicar.

Father Muñoz, who leads Hispanic ministry at the mission and the cathedral, said that he and other members of the mission went door to door in the neighborhood and also contacted many friends and acquaintances to invite them to the Mass. He was pleased that 10 cathedral staff members and some parishioners attended.

“Everything was very, very organized, even with tons of people,” he said. “They took it very seriously. It was a wonderful experience. … The whole community did everything.”

Father Muñoz, a native of Colombia, said that the area “is full of Latino people.”

“Now that we’ve moved into Buford (Highway), we are getting new people and their neighbors. They walk, many of them. You can see them walking to Mass every Sunday at 9:30. It’s like a key location … in the heart of Buford,” said the priest.

“The place is very clean, but more importantly, they’re thankful that this is their community,” he said. “There’s a little place on Buford Highway where everybody feels welcome, children or adults, everybody. It doesn’t matter whether you are from Colombia, Peru or El Salvador.”

Buford Highway location ‘is God’s providence’

Sister Sagaseta, who established the Lindbergh mission and retired in 2007 as the cathedral’s director of Hispanic ministry, said the location is perfect to reach the many Catholics living along Buford Highway who fell away from the church or attended nearer Protestant churches.

“I am very happy about that. … It can grow,” said the 85-year-old sister, now active in ministry in Miami.

Father Feiser Muñoz, parochial vicar at the Cathedral of Christ the King, shares some closing remarks. Father Muñoz had a major role in helping to bring the mission to its new location off Buford Highway behind Northeast Plaza. Photo By Michael Alexander

“In that area all the Catholics were a little like sheep without a shepherd because they had difficulty to get to Immaculate Heart of Mary (Parish) or the cathedral. To have the mission right there is God’s providence,” she said.

After initially shuttling children to the cathedral, she first opened the mission in 1992 in the Lindbergh building, which was then also used for daycare. She enthusiastically approached the rector, the late Msgr. Tom Kenny, about starting it.

“My question was, will he pay the rent. He said if you have a good program the money will come,” she recalled.

So cribs were removed from the meeting room, and Mass was celebrated on Saturdays for about 75 people. The mission also brimmed with baptisms, the tradition of celebrating a girl’s 15th birthday known as quinceaneras, and devotions to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In 2007 the Mass time was changed to Sunday at 10 a.m. and attendance eventually grew to around 200, even as the gritty space lacked heat and air conditioning and had bullet holes in the windows. But as safety issues were identified and conditions deteriorated, Msgr. McNamee contacted the Knights of Columbus and had the Mass moved in late 2013 into their hall on Buford Highway on Sundays. Attendance quickly doubled to over 400.

After meeting there for over a year, the cathedral signed a long-term lease for the permanent space at Northeast Plaza.

“Thank God it worked out,” said Msgr. McNamee. “The Hispanic community has a wonderful facility to worship in. It gives them an opportunity to grow and they have a facility that is theirs and can be open seven days a week and gives them an opportunity to have more programs, not just a parish school of religion. Father Feiser has done an outstanding job in bringing the community together. He has made the community take ownership and say this is ours and we have a responsibility. It has really taken off.”

‘Everything is volunteer … It’s beautiful to see that’

Father Muñoz praised the community members for their hard work and building and carpentry skills: one built the marble altar and tabernacle while others created the classrooms, chapel and reception area, renovated the kitchen and installed carpeting. Volunteers also clean and vacuum weekly.

“I am amazed with the things people can do because everything is volunteer without pay. And to see how they give what they have, it’s beautiful to see that. They make my day. If I have to do something and I ask them to do it, they do it with all the love they have,” he said.

Mexican native Alfonso Juarez sits by the altar he made for the Cathedral of Christ the King Mission. It’s made of metal with a marble top. Photo By Michael Alexander

The community ranges from impoverished newcomers to established longtime members and is about 80 percent Mexican. The mission now has about 35 ushers, 40 Eucharistic ministers and 325 children and adults in catechesis. They just bought 200 additional chairs for a total of 633.

“I enjoy seeing they are happy in this environment. People receive them very well and they go every day,” reported Father Muñoz.

Initially the priest plans to add adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as well as English and Spanish literacy classes for immigrants, including those speaking indigenous languages.

“We think they need this kind of help. A lot of people, they come to this country and they speak Spanish, but they don’t know how to write. Some don’t even speak Spanish well,” he said.

Member Maria Petra Hernandez gladly welcomes those newcomers alongside Father Muñoz. She first began attending the mission 18 years ago after moving to Georgia from Mexico because it was “the first Spanish Mass that I knew of.”

She presented her three children to the community when they were 40 days old, a Mexican tradition reenacting how Mary and Joseph presented the baby Jesus in the temple. Later she married in the church and committed herself more fully to serve there. Her children were confirmed at the mission and serve at the altar. Two now attend the Westminster Schools. She serves as a Eucharistic minister and lector and prays with families in their homes before a Marian image.

“Many people have given us support. It’s a way to thank the Lord,” said Hernandez, a house cleaner and babysitter. “Your faith grows more when you are a parent because you give your children to the Lord, who provides everything.”

Hernandez appreciates Father Muñoz’ leadership and hands-on involvement.

“Father Muñoz has brought more momentum. … It’s a very big space and there are more opportunities for the community,” she said. “It’s incredible to see the growth.”