On July 5th, 1997, the late Bishop John R. Keating established Saint Raymond of Penafort as the sixty third parish in the Diocese of Arlington, naming the late Reverend Salvator Ciullo as our founding pastor.

Bishop Keating

A house on Triple Ridge Road was our first home, serving as rectory, office and daily Mass chapel. As our parish grew so quickly we needed to move our daily Masses to Christ Methodist Church and weekend Masses to West Springfield High School. Eventually, we moved to the Greater Springfield Volunteer Fire Department Hall on Backlick Road for weekend Masses.

Baptism in the “Holy Fire Hall”

We later moved our daily Masses and Religious Education program to Angelus Academy. In June of 2000, Father James Gould became our pastor. Father Gould was the Vocation Director for many years, supervising the formation and ordination of over half the priests of the Diocese. He brought the same skills to form and lead our parish forward into a period of amazing spiritual, numerical, financial and architectural growth.

Father James Gould

On June 4, 2003 , ground was broken at the corner of Pohick Road and the Fairfax County Parkway to start the construction of an 850 seat church including a basement with a parish hall, library and eight classrooms, as well as a rectory to accommodate a parish office and priest’s residence.

Bishop Loverde blesses the ground at the groundbreaking of our church site.

On December 19, 2006, our new church was opened with Bishop Loverde celebrating the Mass of dedication.

Dedication Mass

March 2021: Altar Rail and Pulpit Project completed

Photos of Altar Rail Installation