Cathedral celebrating 25-year anniversary

Friday, Sept. 27, 2002 | 3:19 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: Sept. 28, 2002

The Rev. Edward Anderson says it must be divine fate that Guardian Angel Cathedral is celebrating its 25th anniversary this week because it took quite a bit of doing just to get a church near the Strip.

"In the 1950s the bishop didn't want a church on the Strip, and a cathedral is the church the bishop chooses as his own," said Anderson, who in the 1980s served as the cathedral's second rector. "So it is an honor we have come so far -- from not wanting a church here to having a cathedral."

Built in 1963 with a donation of land from legendary Desert Inn owner Moe Dalitz, Guardian Angel became a cathedral in 1977 when Bishop Norman McFarland chose it as his co-cathedral for the then-Reno-Las Vegas Diocese.

On Wednesday, McFarland will be joined by current Bishop Joseph Pepe and the previous Las Vegas bishop, Daniel Walsh, to celebrate a 7 p.m. Mass for the silver anniversary of the cathedral at 336 Cathedral Way just north of Wilbur Clark Desert Inn Highway in the shadows of the Strip megaresorts.

More than just an impressively designed triangular-shaped structure with large, intricate stained glass windows, mosaics and murals, Guardian Angel today stands as a beacon for many of the valley's estimated 460,000 Catholics and millions of out-of-towners seeking to fulfill their holy obligations.

Anderson, at age 80 and semi-retired, celebrates Mass with fellow priests Lawrence Lentz and Francis White and the fourth and current rector, the Rev. James Crilly. The cathedral can seat as many as 1,100 people.

"Many regular visitors have told us this is their church away from home, and that is so gratifying," said Crilly, 73, who is in his seventh year as rector.

"Also, we have local parishioners who have been coming here for 39 years. We want both to feel welcome and comfortable. Often, we ask them at the start of services to turn to each other, shake hands and get to know one another."

About 8,000 people a week attend daily and Sunday Mass at the cathedral. During Anderson's tenure, about 80 percent were tourists. Today, Crilly estimates it is 75 percent tourists.

So important are tourists that at the entrance of the cathedral, under a giant triangular shrine, is the inscribed message: "May the Holy Family bless our visitors and protect them on their journey homeward."

For eight years, Maggie and Jake Fajardo of Oak Park, Ill., have come to Las Vegas to celebrate their wedding anniversary. They make it a point to attend Mass at the cathedral.

"When we first came here we were so surprised to see a church so close to the Strip," said Maggie, who last week celebrated with Jake their 42nd anniversary and stayed at the nearby Stardust. "It is convenient and very beautiful."

The initial reason for having a church in the heart of the gaming mecca was not so much for tourists, but rather to accommodate hotel employees who worked shifts that conflicted with regularly scheduled Sunday Mass.

"In the mid-1950s, the late Father Richard Crowly had developed a good rapport with a number of the casino owners," said church member Marie Feeney, who wrote a history of the cathedral for its milestone anniversary. "He saw early on a need for providing services for many Catholic workers in the hotels."

Crowly was approached by Joseph Bock, then-food and beverage manager for the Stardust and Desert Inn hotels, who asked Crowly to conduct 4:30 a.m. Sunday Masses in a showroom for cooks, waiters, bartenders and musicians working the swing shift, Feeney said.

"The problems were obvious for a priest conducting services in a room filled with open liquor bottles from the previous night's business," Feeney said. "There was a definite need for a church near the Strip."

But Bishop Robert Dwyer thought it would not be proper to build a church so close to the gaming center. Despite that setback, a persistent Crowly, shortly before being transferred out of state, approached Dalitz for the land gift.

Crowly's successor, the Rev. Patrick Toomey, got Dalitz's donation as well as money from other area resort owners and convinced the bishop to build the shrine that opened on Oct. 2, 1963, on the Feast of the Guardian Angels.

"The casino operators were sharp businessmen," Crilly said. "They realized that Catholic tourists would not go to cities that did not have a conveniently located church. Supporting a church here simply was a good business decision."

Kathy Olson, a Las Vegas resident of 13 years and human resource manager for Steve Wynn's property at the old Desert Inn site, spends a number of her lunch hours attending daily noon Mass at the cathedral.

"It's a good alternative to lunch in the middle of the day and, after attending services, I feel like a better person," she said. "I'm glad the cathedral's here because it provides an important service for visitors and locals and it shows the world that on the Strip there is a place for God."

Over the years, many celebrities have attended Mass at the cathedral, including Bob Newhart, Perry Como, Danny Thomas, Frank Sinatra and former Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson.

The paradox of the religious shrine in the middle of flowing booze, near-naked dancers and jingling slot machines does not escape the cathedral's clerics or the national news media.

"We understand that reporters are going to play on the religion versus gambling issue," Crilly said. "I simply tell them if you look real hard you will find in your own town many of the things you see here. Besides, don't we believe that God is everywhere?"

The proximity of the cathedral to casinos also has made it a popular stopping point for a number of poor souls who overindulged.

Anderson and Crilly say they have had to direct a number of people to Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada for assistance to get home after they lost all of their money. The priests have counseled others who contemplated suicide or revenge.

Crilly said the future of the cathedral is simply to continue its mission.

"We want to continue to keep the faith of Christ alive on the Strip," he said. "We want to respond to the challenge God created in a world that is imperfect -- to strive to bring some perfection to that which is imperfect."