LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – While many people will be watching the implosion from the towering high-rise resorts that surround the Tropicana early Wednesday morning, one of the best seats in the house will be a house of worship: Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer.
It is the largest Catholic church in Las Vegas area and can hold more than 2,000 people. It is one of the closest neighbors to the Tropicana.
“I remember when you could drive up the Strip much more quickly than you can now and I remember when you could drive up Fremont street,” shared Bishop Gregory Gordon, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Las Vegas.
When the Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer opened in 1993, the South Strip was booming. The Excalibur was a few years old, the Luxor has just opened, and another neighbor would soon be built.
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“This church was three years old, 1996, when the Hacienda Hotel had been there a long time… imploded and another resort, the Mandalay Bay would rise in its place,” recounted Bishop Gordon.
Bishop Gordon, whose family moved to Boulder City in 1973, says as the Strip continued to grow so too did the need for a church to serve the millions of tourists visiting Las Vegas each year many staying across the street at the Tropicana.
Thousands of faithful continue to come for mass every weekend a home away from home for Catholics around the world.
“This is mostly tourists,” asked FOX5’s Kim Passoth.
“That is correct Kim. Most of our churches in Las Vegas are parish churches, they are families but this is a shrine, not a parish, so it doesn’t have any resident parishioners,” Bishop Gordon explained.
The church was a safe haven to people of all faiths during the darkest night in Las Vegas history when a gunman opened fire on the Route 91 Festival. People ran to the nearby church and hid behind cinderblock walls, a shield from the bullets.
“It was precisely there that many sought refuge and protection on that terrible night, so this really did become a sanctuary,” Bishop Gordon contended.
No bullets hit the church itself, but in front of the doors where there’s a statue of Jesus with his arms outstretched, a few bullets believed to have ricocheted from the venue were found.
Ahead of the next moment in Las Vegas history, Bishop Gordon says they are praying, both prayers of gratitude for so many good years next to the Trop and prayers of hope for what is to come.
“I think Las Vegas has a had a beautiful way and record of adapting,” contended Bishop Gordon.
Though the church is open to the public every day, there will be no public implosion viewing at the site. It will be closed off along with all access roads to it due to safety reasons but it will be back open before daily mass Wednesday at 12:10 p.m.
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