Last Saturday, parishioners of St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church congregated for mass inside the church’s cathedral for the first time in three months. The mass marked a major step toward recovery for a University Heights institution that was sent reeling after a fire, which investigators say was the result of arson, destroyed the church’s vestibule on March 5.

“We gave thanks like there was no tomorrow!” said parishioner Lili Jones, who went to two of the four masses held on Sunday. “The eight o’clock mass was full, the nine-thirty was packed. We even gave a standing ovation for the work Father [Joseph] Girone has done.”

Although renovations are not completed — those will take at least until fall — a passageway has been created through which the community can safely enter the church.

“We were able to do all the work that needed to be done inside the body of the church for smoke damage,” said Girone, the priest for this trilingual congregation of about 1,600 people. “However, the vestibule, which is where the fire was started, still has to be reconstructed. That hasn’t happened yet.”

The renovations that remain are reconstructions of the vestibule’s masonry. These will take more time as the artisan stonework, originally done sometime in the mid-20th century, is hard to replicate at an affordable price, and financing needs to be cleared both with the insurance and the archdiocese. This area is also the most damaged because the fire was started here.

The exact cause of the fire is still being looked into.

“We know the fire was incendiary, that someone set the fire,” said Frank Dwyer, a spokesman for the Fire Department. “We know it was deliberately set but we don’t know by whom, so that is being investigated.” The search for suspects in the arson case is now in the hands of the Police Department, he added.

Most of the fire damage repairs are paid for by the church’s insurance, but there are necessary improvements that won’t be covered by the policy.

“There are other issues that won’t be taken care of, such as security,” said Girone. “We don’t want the church to be closed because of this.”

The parish plans to install cameras to catch any acts of vandalism that may occur in the future, while leaving it open to its community. “During the week we want to keep it open so that people can pray,” Girone said.

More minor damage from the fire — to the electrical wiring and the pews, for example — are also costs resulting from the fire that will have to be borne by the church, Jones said.

The parish has been holding services in the gym of the church’s elementary school since the fire. Weekday services in Vietnamese, Spanish and English will continue to be held in the school gym while renovations are done. Weekend masses will be held in the church.

The congregation has remained active during the time the church was closed for renovations. Sister Margaret McDermott said there had been little change in the number of people coming to the services, despite the unorthodox new location.

On June 6 at Devoe Park, the church celebrated the Festival of Nations, one of two annual festivals hosted by the church for fund-raising and community building. The money from the Festival of Nations events will go directly toward fire renovations.

Even with the steady turnout in the months following the fire, Tolentine leaders want everyone to know they are welcome back into the church. 

“We encourage everyone to come,” said Jones, who has been a member of the church for 15 years. “We need to be a family again.”