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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 5, 2012
Contact: Tom Pfeifer, (202) 225-5811

Simi Valley chaplain to offer opening prayer in House of Representatives

WASHINGTON, DC—Father Joseph Shea, pastor of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Simi Valley, will offer the opening prayer on the floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday as the guest of U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties).

Father Shea will offer the prayer at approximately noon EDT (9 a.m. PDT). It will be broadcast on C-SPAN.

“I have known Father Shea since he was appointed pastor of St. Rose of Lima and have worked with him on several projects that have benefited our community,” Gallegly said. “It is befitting that he continue the tradition of having pastors from across our country open the People’s House with a prayer for our nation and its people.”

Father Shea was ordained on May 27, 1978. After serving as associate pastor at St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish in Los Angeles and St. John Vianney Parish in Hacienda Heights, Cardinal Roger Mahony appointed Father Shea as the Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, responsible for recruiting young men and women into the priesthood and the religious life.

In 1996, Father Shea was appointed pastor of Holy Family Parish in Glendale, a large parish consisting of 4,200 families, an elementary school, girls high school college preparatory, two large acute care hospitals and 16 convalescent hospitals.

For seven years, Father Shea served as one of the 16 Deans of the Archdiocese and helped oversee 15 parishes in his deanery. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Cardinal McIntyre Fund for Charity and the “Together in Mission” Campaign Board.

Father Shea was appointed pastor of the St. Rose of Lima Parish in 2008.

Father Shea loves people, sports, fishing, hiking, biking, the Dodgers, the Lakers and Notre Dame football.

This is not the first time Gallegly has invited a pastor from the district to give the opening prayer. On May 2, 1990, the late Rev. Frank Witman, senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of Simi Valley, offered the opening prayer.

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