LISBON FALLS — Parishioners gathered Sept. 12 to dedicate the pastoral wing of Holy Trinity Church in memory of Father Lionel Chouinard, who served as pastor there for 17 years.

“Thanks to the hard work and prayers of Father Lionel Chouinard and so many members of this parish, this hall has been a center for your activities and a place where you have come to know one another and give witness to our faith in Christ,” Bishop Robert Deeley said, according to a news release from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

Chouinard began his ministry in Lisbon Falls shortly after Holy Trinity Church was dedicated in December 1999. The new church was built to serve members of three parishes that had merged — Saint Anne in Lisbon, Saints Cyril and Methodius in Lisbon Falls, and Holy Family in Lisbon Falls — and Chouinard is credited with helping to bring the three communities together as one.

“He put his heart and soul into this place and loved everybody, and they loved him back,” said Donald Martel, who helped to plan the dedication ceremony. “I think he really deserves this dedication.”

A few years after the completion of the church, the pastoral wing was added under Chouinard’s guidance. During a Mass that preceded the dedication ceremony, Deeley recalled Chouinard giving him a tour of the building.

“We went through each classroom and office. It became very evident that he had been very involved in creating this space. It was also evident that the space was more than a building. For Father Chouinard, it was a place to celebrate the parish and its people,” the bishop said.

During his time in Lisbon Falls, Chouinard additionally served as administrator of Holy Family Parish in Lewiston for one year, and in 2008 also became pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Sabattus. In 2020, Holy Trinity and Our Lady of the Rosary joined Holy Family, Holy Cross Church, and the Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul, as part of Prince of Peace Parish in Lewiston.

Father Daniel Greenleaf, pastor of Prince of Peace, said as the parish looks to the future, it is also essential to remember and celebrate the past, which is why he believed it was important to honor the contributions of Chouinard.

“Now that our area parishes have completed the clustering and have become one new parish, I thought honoring Father Chouinard at Holy Trinity was a great way to memorialize all that he did for them and to secure that his memory lives on even as the parish forms a new identity. The history, culture, and memory of a people in a parish are things to treasure, foster, and nurture in our parishes because faith itself is handed on through these human experiences,” he said.

Chouinard continued to serve until 2017, well past the age of retirement. He died in 2019.

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