Posted July 28, 2020

Archbishop Nelson Perez returned to his old neighborhood during a July 26 pastoral visit to Holy Innocents Parish in Northeast Philadelphia.

(Read our feature story on Archbishop Nelson Perez’s July 26 visit to Holy Innocents Parish.)

The archbishop, who celebrated back-to-back Masses in English and Spanish, was greeted by numerous old friends and former parishioners who had long known him simply as “Padre Nelson.” He urged them to have hope in Christ amid the current challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread social unrest, and to be joyful, fruitful missionary disciples.

(All photos by Sarah Webb.)

  • Capuchins from the nearby Padre Pio Friary were in attendance at the July 26 Mass.

  • Archbishop Nelson Perez commended the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in residence at Holy Innocents, as the order marks its 175th anniversary this year.

  • Father Thomas Higgins, pastor of Holy Innocents, greets a parishioner following one of the two July 26 Masses celebrated there by Archbishop Nelson Perez.

  • Archbishop Nelson Perez greets parishioners of Holy Innocents Parish after one of two July 26 Masses he celebrated, marking a return to a neighborhood where he spent two decades of his previous ministry as a Philadelphia priest.