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Solemn Procession Kicks off Catholic Conference in Stone Harbor

The procession of about 200 people followed a mile-long route through Stone Harbor.

Story and photos by Collin Hall

STONE HARBOR – A last-minute phone call to the mayor meant that a 200-person Eucharistic procession, led by the Rev. Father Boniface Hicks, a famous Benedictine monk, could take to the streets in remembrance of Jesus Christ. The procession was part of a three-day conference, Catholics at the Shore, just one week after the election of the first American pope.

Eustace Mita helped guide the procession on city streets and worked with Mayor Tim Carney to procure a police escort along 96th Street, the main stretch through town. Mita is the CEO of ICONA Resorts, a prominent businessman, developer and well-connected Catholic. He is president emeritus of the Papal Foundation, a prominent Catholic charity.

Eustace Mita, center, during the procession.

The parade was led by men who donned traditional ceremonial garb. A thurifer led the procession as he swung a metal incense burner back and forth as he walked, leaving a sweet frankincense trail in his wake. Hicks followed not far behind and held an ornate gold monstrance above his head, a ceremonial vessel used to hold what Catholics believe is the body of Christ.

“The Eucharist, in the Catholic Church, it isn’t a symbol. It’s literally the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Mita said. So it was that Christ’s body was held within the monstrance, becoming flesh in the minds of believers after a brief Mass just before the parade.

The Rev. Boniface Hicks holding the monstrance.

The parade across town was well-attended and full of ornamental flourishes, but was mostly silent save for some singing. Nuns, religious leaders, clergymen and visitors from across America marched, many with heads bowed, to kick off the fourth year of Catholics at the Shore, a three-day religious gathering partially spearheaded by Mita but primarily organized by Chris and Molly McMahon.

Chris McMahon is a “leader in faith-based financial planning,” according to his profile on MFA Wealth, a faith-based investment group of which he is president and CEO. He told the Herald that Catholics at the Shore meets in Stone Harbor because of its proximity to major urban hubs – and because of its beaches.

“We realized if you drew a map from Seven Mile Island, you have about 20 million Catholics within a three-hour drive of here,” he said.

Of course, the new American pope – Pope Leo XIV, born and raised in Chicago – was on almost everybody’s mind. The new pope was installed just one week before Catholics at the Shore and came up in every conversation the Herald had with attendees.

The thurifer, left, with an incense burner, helped lead the procession as it began at the intersection of Third Avenue and 99th Street.

Mita told the Herald that he was in Rome just a week prior, expecting to visit Pope Francis, but “ended up at a funeral instead.”

“When people leave this conference, they will leave refreshed, renewed, and hopefully on fire with the Holy Spirit,” Mita said. “I never thought in my lifetime or even my children’s lifetime that we would see an American pope.”

Several groups of nuns came to the conference. Sister Mary Hostia, a Sister of Life from Philadelphia, told the Herald that she was excited to spend a lot of time in prayer.

Members of the Sisters of Life participating in the Eucharistic procession.

The procession began and ended at St. Paul’s on Third Avenue, where Carney is active as a lector. The mayor told the Herald that Pope Leo XIV once mowed the grass at St. Denis Catholic Church in Havertown, Pennsylvania.

“That was my parents’ church, that’s where they are buried,” he said, as the procession filed back into the church after a mile-long walk across town.

Contact the author, Collin Hall, at 609-886-8600, ext. 156, or by email at chall@cmcherald.com

The procession went by businesses and second homes, and along the main stretch of town.
Content Marketing Coordinator / Reporter

Collin Hall grew up in Wildwood Crest and is both a reporter and the editor of Do The Shore. Collin currently lives in Villas.

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