Around 1915, Fr. J.J. Dolje was assigned by the Diocese of Dallas to the mission territory of the parish at Umbarger. Following is an excerpt from a 1975 article titled “Problems Encountered by the Catholic Church in West Texas” by John Michael Harter; which was recently published in The Catholic Historical Society, Diocese of Amarillo’s most recent newsletter.
This letter of Fr. Dolje will serve as the basis for this bicycle pilgrimage.
There has been a lot of unrest in the Cathedral parish for the last few months; actually, in reality, for some decades.
Bishop Patrick J. Zurek, “A Reflection on Christian Life”
As evidenced in Fr. Dolje’s letter, unrest is nothing new to our diocese, let alone our Cathedral. Actually, “UNREST” may best describe the state of the entire Church from its beginning to the present time.
Can we fault the parishoners in Umbarger, Happy, Bovina, Hereford and Canyon in showing unrest for being less of a Church than what they had grown accustomed? It seems Fr. Dolje didn’t.
However Bishop Zurek did find fault with St. Mary’s Cathedral’s “UNREST“, which had existed, according to him, prior to his arrival as our bishop.
How should we as Catholics look upon “UNREST“? As I set out on the Fr. John Dolje Pilgrimage I invite you to contemplate “UNREST” with me.
Catholic Bicycle 