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St. Isaac Jogues
Parish was established in Southeast Orange County by Bishop Grady
in May of 1987. The first pastor, Reverend Robert Hoeffner, bought
a rectory building and set up a temporary office at Blessed Trinity
Parish. In the spring of 1988, construction was begun on the Parish
Hall. The first of the Parish's facilities, the Hall is approximately
13,250 square feet in size and is used for liturgy, meetings and
classes.
In the fall of
1996, construction began on the Parish Administration building.
The Administration building is approximately 6,300 square feet in
size and houses all administrative functions, as well as providing
conference rooms, work space for volunteer groups and a lunch room
for the staff.
Father Phillip
Nuņez III, the Parochial Vicar, joined Reverend Hoeffner in 1997
and assists in ministering to the needs of the Hispanic members
of the Parish. St. Isaac Jogues Church is perhaps the most "multicultural"
parish in the Diocese of Orlando. The community is 55 percent Hispanic,
mostly from Puerto Rico and Colombia, with Cubans, Dominicans and
others sprinkled into the mix.
In the Summer
of 1999, Father Robert Markunas became the new pastor at St. Isaac.
In addition to his pastoral duties, he also does Catholic radio
programming for the Hispanic population in the Orlando area.
Father Ybain Ramirez
replaced Father Phillip Nuñez, III as the new Parochial Vicar
in August of 2001. During this time, extensive work was done in
planning the construction of a new church for St. Isaac Jogues.
With a growing community it was evident that a new worship environment
was needed.
Father Markunas
kept the parish moving forward into the 21st century until he resigned
as Pastor of St. Isaac Jogues in September of 2003. Father J. Fernando
Gil, J.C.D. became our third Pastor in October of 2003 and shortly
after, Bishop Norbert Dorsey along with Father Gil and founding
Pastor Father Robert Hoeffner broke ground for the new church.
Over the past several
years, we have grown from three ordained Deacons to seven. Father
Andrew Wojtan was brought in as the new Parochial Vicar after Father
Ramirez was transferred to another parish.
As the community of St.
Isaac Jogues has grown closer to God the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit, it has also grown outward to over 3000 families. A
new chapter of the life of St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Community began
on May 14, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. with the Rite of Dedication of the
new church building. Most Rev.Thomas G. Wenski, the new Bishop of
Orlando was the principal celebrant for the amazing celebration.
We open our new church exactly eighteen years after we were created
by then Bishop Thomas Grady.
As we continue to grow
as a parish community and grow closer to Christ, the future has
many great things in store for us like a grade school and the 20th
anniversary of the parish in May 2007.
Remember: “God
is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.”
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