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Cardinal McCarrick to Dedicated New Church for Mother Seton Parish, Germantown With Father Ron Potts as Pastor

Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, joined the pastor of Mother Seton Catholic parish, Father Ron Potts, and parishioners for a Mass and dedication of the parish’s first permanent worship space since its founding 30 years ago on Saturday, December 18th, 2004. 

The 750-seat church, built at a cost of $4.3 million, is the fulfillment of a dream for the parish’s 2,400 families, who have been worshipping in a crowded parish hall for many years.

The dedication of a new church and altar is full of meaning, according to Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington. 

At the start, the architect, contractor and chair of the parish building committee presented Cardinal McCarrick with the church plans and key. During Mass, the people and the walls were blessed with water, symbolizing the baptism that cleanses from sin; a litany of saints will be sung, symbolizing the connection between the people and the entire Church, past and present; and the altar and walls were consecrated with chrism oil. Relics of saints were placed in the altar, including St. Elizabeth Ann Seton; St. Catherine Laboure; St. John Neumann; and two early martyrs, Ss. Blandina and Venustian, whose relics had been in the altar stone of the rectory chapel during the parish’s early days.

The 25,000-square-foot building, designed by Tom Osborn of TM Osborn & Associates in Gaithersburg, MD, and the furnishings are themselves very symbolic. An important design feature is the presence of crosses. The seven-foot-tall cross atop the church tower and the cross on the cornerstone are adapted from the cross on the Maryland flag. This honors the parish’s patron, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who established a religious order, and lived much of her life, in Maryland. A large crucifix over the altar reminds parishioners of Christ’s sacrifice during Mass while large steel trusses above the body of the church are in the shape of a Greek cross (all arms of the cross are equal in length). Other crosses are placed along the walls of the church, and five crosses carved into the top of the altar represent the five wounds of Christ.

Many of the furnishings were designed locally, by DeLizzio Architects of Rockville, including the base of the tabernacle, baptismal font, part of the altar, stained glass windows and ambo. The windows were fabricated by Shenandoah Art-Glass Studio in Frederick; the rest of these furnishings were executed in Italian Carrera marble by New Jersey-based Giovannetti Marble. The 100-year-old tabernacle also was made in New Jersey. The front of the altar, and the columns, were a gift from the Church of St. Dominic of Washington, DC, where they originally were used.

Father Potts was formerly assigned to St. John's in Hollywood.