Personal History of St Pius XI always brag that I was here at St. Pius X church when it was founded. I was eleven. My memories of
that beginning time are bit sketchy. I remember there being much discussion at my house on how
would we ever support a Catholic Church in such a Yankee Protestant area. We were considered a
mission area at the time.
It soon became apparent that with the help of our summer visitors and the willingness of many
parishioners to do the hard work of maintaining the buildings and fund-raising ,we would make it . The
first summer after the building commenced, Mass was held in the basement of the now Religious
Education building. When we moved upstairs, the basement became our hall. The frequent spaghetti
dinners organized by Elva Shaw became an instant success. It was hard to tell which group had more
fun the cooks and servers or the patrons.
Our first pastor, Msgr. Broderick, seemed to a young person to be a perfect representative of Christ.
His demeanor was elegant -Patrician almost. He led us in becoming a prayer centered parish. He
encouraged us to attend daily Mass, frequent Confessions, weekly Benediction services, and strict
Lenten and Advent observances. He personally taught the high school religion class of six students.
When I left for college (Bridgewater State), he advised me to join the Newman Club so I would not lose
my faith. He really did not need to worry because at that time Bridgewater was more Catholic than most
Catholic colleges . This was fortuitous as it was in this organization that I met my future husband, DJ.
After my marriage and much traveling, our family of five returned to Yarmouth and St, Pius X in 1968.
Msgr. Broderick was still pastor but he was joined now by Fr. Davignon. It was about this time that the
need for a larger church building brought our now church into being. I'm sure you've noticed that the
front of the church faces the Religious Education Center. The story I heard was originally the plan called
for the parking to be in front and the church located where the back parking lot is. However, perk tests
showed that the land back there could not hold the building thus it was brought forward and turned
sideways to accommodate the load.
Around 1970 Sr. Alice O'Brien, a Victory Noll sister, was hired to reorganize our CCD program. Her first
mission was to name it Religious Education. Her plan was to divide the classes into groups of 10-12. We
thought she was crazy. That would require many more teachers and we had trouble enough getting a
teacher for every grade. She proved us wrong. Many more men and women were willing to teach a
smaller group and she provided training for us right in the parish. Lorraine Cambra walked in one day to
volunteer to help out Sr. O'Brien and is still here working in the rectory! At this time our Religious
Education program had about 900 students. Soon after her arrival Fr. Davignon was transferred and Fr.
William Costello was assigned to our parish.
After Sr. Alice suffered a mild stroke, she was allowed to return to work only if she had an assistant. I
was hired as her assistant. Betty Colgan worked with the middle and high school children as a
volunteer. It was around this time that Msgr. Broderick retired and Msgr. Munroe arrived. Soon after
that, Sr. Alice was assigned to El Centro, California to work with migrant workers. Msgr. Munroe hired
Betty. At a diocesan Religious Education Convention, Providence College was advertizing its new
Master's program in Religious Education. Betty and I applied, were accepted, supported by Msgr.
Munroe, and graduated in 1982. When my daughter went to college, 1 decided to transfer to the public
school system. Joan Robinson was hired to replace me.
The parish flourished and the need for a parish center emerged. That building was competed in 19 . The
building has three meeting rooms, one with a stage, and a huge kitchen . It is filled constantly with activities
of the various parish ministries and some community organizations use it also. Msgr. Munroe was
transferred shortly after this project was completed, as his work as a canon lawyer require him to be in
Fall River weekly.
Msgr. John Smith became our third pastor. Joan Robinson and Betty Colgan stayed on as Directors of
Religious Education. Msgr. Smith hired Mark Girardin as our Director of Music and Tom Madden as
the Buildings Supervisor. He also began the annual parish mission which allows parishioners a chance
to attend an extended retreat right in their own parish. When Bishop Sean O'Malley asked Msgr.
Smith to build a Catholic School, a huge fund raising effort began. The school became a reality. It
presently educates 225 students from all over the Cape in grades pre-K to eight. In 2013 the first class
that started in Kindergarten graduated eighth grade.
Our present pastor Fr. George Bellenoit brings his many gifts to our parish. He encourages all of us to
become true stewards. He continues to support the many ministries with his presence. He has brought
a pastoral council to new life. He annually reports to us the financial health of our parish. And he
oversaw the recent renovations of the church including the unseen new heating system and roof. He
enables us to have two daily Masses by encouraging excellent retired priests to assist us . We are also
blessed to have six deacons to serve the many needs of the parish.
In 1995 after three years as a volunteer, Jean Kelly replaced a retiring Betty Colgan as Director of
Education. And upon Joan Robinson's untimely death, Jean became the sole director of Religious
Education.
It has been a privilege and a blessing to be an active member of this vital parish for so much of its
existence. I was confirmed here, married in the old church, and two of my four children were Baptized
at St. Pius X. All four of my children received First Communion and Confirmation here. My three
married children had their weddings here. My adult life revolves around this parish: a religion teacher
for 45 years, Director of Religious Education for 15 years, a teacher's aide in the Kindergarten at the
parish school for two years, a member of St. Vincent de Paul for the last ten years, and a Minister of
the Eucharist at church and to the homebound.