St. Paul Parish: celebrating 100 years of faith, stewardship

By John Suthers

(PHOTO: Photo of Pauline Chapel from across the lake where the Broadmoor Hotel currently stands, circa 1918. Photos from the Diocese of Colorado Springs Archives.)

Editor's note: On Nov. 15, St. Paul Parish celebrated its 100th anniversary. In honor of the occasion, former Colorado Springs mayor John Suthers, a longtime parishioner, compiled a written and visual history of St. Paul. As you will see, the parish's history is closely intertwined with that of both the City of Colorado Springs and the Catholic Church in Colorado.

On Feb. 5, 1918, Spencer Penrose, who was in the midst of building the Broadmoor Hotel, wrote a letter to Bishop J. H. Tihen of Denver, indicating that his wife, Julie Penrose, was “anxious” to build a small Catholic chapel near the hotel. He enclosed proposed drawings for the chapel and indicated it would be built on land donated by the Broadmoor. He estimated the cost would be between $10,000 and $15,000. Bishop Tihen approved, as long as the property was controlled by the church, and by September the project was underway. On Sept. 5, 1918, noted local architect Thomas MacLaren sent the bishop blueprints for the new chapel.

The new chapel was dedicated on May 18, 1919, under the patronage of St. Paul, by Bishop Tihen. Fifteen other Catholic clergymen were present, and a full vested choir was brought from Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Denver. But shortly after the dedication, the chapel was given the name Pauline, in honor of Mrs. Penrose’s six-year-old granddaughter, who had escaped tragedy at the hands of the German army in World War I. The Catholic Church acquiesced in the name because Pauline was also the name of one the Pope’s private chapels in the Vatican, having been so named by Pope Paul III. Pauline Chapel became a mission of the Catholic Diocese of Denver under the care of St. Mary’s Parish in downtown Colorado Springs. In May 1923, the chapel became a mission of Sacred Heart Church on the westside of Colorado Springs. From the time of its construction until her death in 1956, Mrs. Penrose acquired for the chapel a remarkable number of very valuable artifacts and art treasures. Particularly after World War II, having been widowed for a second time, Julie plunged herself into a project that brought dozens of art treasures to the chapel. One of the best descriptions of the treasures is contained in a pamphlet, “The Story of Pauline Chapel” by Myrtle Chance (undated but written prior to 1953).

In 1925, the chapel became the focal point of a new St. Paul’s Catholic Parish, so designated at a service conducted by the bishop of Denver on Nov. 15, 1925. It was the third parish created in the Colorado Springs area. A rectory was constructed adjacent to the chapel, and Father Louis Hagus was assigned by the bishop to be the first pastor. The church office, such as it was, was located in the basement of the rectory.

On a humorous note, documents found in diocesan archives indicate that on Dec. 7, 1925, just three weeks after the new parish was established, Father Hagus wrote a letter to Bishop Tihen asking for permission to hold a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve for “my little congregation at Pauline Chapel” so they won’t “wander around from church to church”. The bishop sent a handwritten note in response, denying the request because “midnight mass is bad from a spiritual and material point of view.” Father Hagus remained pastor until his death in July 1935.

Father Michael Harrington, a native of Ireland, was appointed pastor of Pauline Chapel in August 1935 to replace Father Hagus. Having initially terminated his seminary studies in Ireland at age 22, he came to Colorado suffering from tuberculosis and expecting to die. But after two years in the Phipps Sanitorium in Denver, he was well enough to enter St. Thomas Seminary and was ordained in 1928. He spent five years as an assistant pastor in Denver before being appointed pastor for Pauline Chapel, where he befriended Mrs. Penrose and witnessed her full return to Catholicism.

After Spencer Penrose’s death in 1939, Julie Penrose moved into the Broadmoor Hotel and gifted their entire 72-acre El Pomar estate to the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati to be used as a retreat house. On July 16, 1954, Archbishop Urban J. Vehr of Denver wrote a letter to the mother general of the Sisters of Charity, asking them to consider donating five acres of the estate, close to the chapel, to the parish to build a parochial school. He indicated Mrs. Penrose and the El Pomar Foundation had made a substantial financial commitment to construction of a school. Archbishop Vehr also asked the Sisters of Charity to provide teaching sisters for the new school. The Sisters of Charity agreed to the proposal, the Papal Nuncio to the United States agreed to the land transfer, and work was begun to construct Pauline Memorial School. (Mrs. Penrose’s beloved granddaughter, Pauline, had died of a brain tumor and the school was named after her.) The school, built at a cost of approximately $270,000, was opened in 1955 with four grades and a kindergarten. A grade was added each year until eight were established. A preschool was added later. Over the ensuing 70 years, the school has educated thousands of children and helped produce contributing citizens in all walks of life. They’ve been taught by dozens of dedicated nuns and lay teachers. The name of the school was changed to St. Paul in 2012.

With the growth of Colorado Springs and St. Paul Parish, the chapel could no longer accommodate all its parishioners, and Sunday services were moved to the new school auditorium. When Archbishop Vehr conferred the sacrament of confirmation in the school auditorium, he publicly announced to Father Harrington and assembled parishioners, “You need to build a new church,” to which Father Harrington replied, “We have no place to build.” “Find one,” the archbishop retorted.

Again Julie Penrose and the El Pomar Foundation assisted the parish in providing a site between the chapel and the school and a substantial financial commitment was made toward the total cost of $320,000 for the church. A groundbreaking for the new church was held on Oct. 26, 1958. Unfortunately, Penrose did not see the new church, having died of cancer on Jan. 23, 1956. Her funeral service was held before an invitation-only gathering of community leaders at Pauline Chapel on Thursday, Jan. 26, 1956.

On Christmas Eve 1959, a joyful congregation assembled in the new St. Paul’s Church for a Midnight Mass (Archbishop Vehr apparently having no opposition to Midnight Mass) celebrated by Father Harrington and his assistant pastor, Father Daniel Kelleher. A formal dedication ceremony was conducted by Archbishop Vehr on Feb. 3, 1960, attended by hundreds of parishioners and schoolchildren. For the first several years of Pauline Memorial School’s operation, the Sisters of Charity teaching at the school lived at the El Pomar retreat house. But as the number of sisters increased, a convent was completed in 1961 at the cost of $125,000. Again, the El Pomar Foundation contributed to the cost. The convent was located strategically between the church and the school. In 1985, after the number of nuns assigned to the school had decreased significantly, the convent was remodeled to accommodate parish offices and meeting space.

In 1974, after almost 40 years as pastor of St. Paul, Father Harrington, who had been named a Monsignor in 1968, resigned to take emeritus status. He remained at the parish until his death in May 1986. Upon Msgr. Harrington's retirement, the Archbishop of Denver appointed Father Ted Haas, a native of Colorado Springs, to become pastor. He would serve a decade, until 1984, when the new Diocese of Colorado Springs was created out of the Archdiocese of Denver. Auxiliary Bishop Richard Hanifen, who had served the southern part of the archdiocese, became the first Bishop of Colorado Springs and immediately appointed Father Haas rector of St. Mary’s Parish, which became the cathedral for the new diocese. He was replaced as pastor of St. Paul by Father Robert Mann, who served three years. In 1987, Father John Slattery, who was also Vicar General of the Diocese of Colorado Springs, was named parochial administrator of St. Paul. He was replaced by Father Thomas Currier, on loan from the Diocese of Dubuque, in 1989. When Father Currier returned to Iowa in 1992, another Colorado Springs native, Father Jerome (Jerry) Kelleher, was named pastor. Father Kelleher resigned in February 1996 because of illness, and Father John Auer became the eighth pastor of St. Paul on March 1, 1996.

In 1993, St. Paul’s welcomed its first permanent deacon, Pat Bidon. He would be succeeded by several dedicated deacons, including Deacon Richard Bowles, who became the parish’s longest serving deacon and remains in service to St. Paul.

Father Auer motivated his parishioners to undertake an ambitious and much needed renovation and expansion of parish facilities. Approximately $13 million was raised. The convent was torn down and replaced by an expansive parish center that included Julie Penrose Hall, conference rooms, parish offices and school library. Completed in 2002, the project also included a full-size gymnasium and junior high wing for the school and the old auditorium was converted to a cafeteria. The spacious Julie Penrose Hall quickly became the center of parish, school and diocesan events and dramatically changed the life of the parish community. An annual fundraising gala, monthly Knights of Columbus breakfasts, wedding and funeral receptions and weekly Bible studies in the Parish Center are now a part of the parish culture.

In 2008, Father Auer was reassigned and Bishop Michael Sheridan, who had been named Bishop of Colorado Springs after Bishop Hanifen’s retirement in 2001, named Father Robert Jaeger the new pastor. It was a homecoming of sorts for Jaeger who, after completing seminary, had served a year as a deacon at St. Paul from 1989–1990 before being ordained to the priesthood in July 1990, as well as serving a stint as assistant pastor from 1990-1992. He had been named Vicar General of the Diocese of Colorado Springs in 2000 and was elevated to Monsignor in 2009, shortly after his return to St. Paul. Msgr. Jaeger has remained as pastor through the parish centennial anniversary in 2025. Bishop James Golka became the third Bishop of Colorado Springs in 2021.

Pauline Chapel, while still owned by the parish, is now subject to a long-term lease to the Broadmoor Hotel, which uses it for a non-denominational service on Sunday mornings, weddings and other observances consistent with Catholic theology.

Remarkably, St. Paul’s Parish has only had nine pastors during its century long history. It’s also been served by dozens of assistant pastors, and deacons. These members of the clergy and numerous laymen have helped shepherd a parish that started with a small but beautiful chapel and now includes a wonderful church, a dynamic school and an expansive parish center. St. Paul Parish is remarkably well positioned to serve its existing and future Catholic flock and is well poised to meet the challenges and opportunities of the next 100 years.

(John Suthers formerly served as Mayor of Colorado Springs and Attorney General for the State of Colorado, in addition to working in private practice for over a decade. He is a lifelong member of St. Paul Parish.)