YOUNGSTOWN — As a popular and beloved city landmark and religious institution celebrates a pivotal milestone in its long life, its reach and scope in the community and beyond continues to reverberate and touch lives.

“Our work as Dominicans is to be of assistance to the local church, and we do that in whatever part of the world we’re in,” explained the Rev. Vincent DeLucia, pastor of St. Dominic Roman Catholic Parish, 77 E. Lucius Ave., on the South Side.

The church is under the Diocese of Youngstown and is served by the Dominican friars of the Province of St. Joseph, who are members of the Order of Preachers. The OP is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical rite founded in France and approved in December 1216 by Pope Honorius III.

Much more recently, St. Dominic celebrated its 100th anniversary during a dinner last month, which an estimated 225 guests attended.

DeLucia, who joined St. Dominic seven years ago from his native New Haven, Conn., said the church originally was part of the Diocese of Cleveland until the 1940s, when Youngstown became “an enormously populated area” of largely blue-collar workers, immigrants and families post-World War II.

Today, St. Dom’s friars are often sent to communities in portions of the Upper Midwest to establish mission churches and conduct itinerant preaching, DeLucia said. He noted that his church has more than 750 registered families that, largely because of changing demographics, now come mostly from Boardman, Canfield, Salem, Columbiana and other surrounding areas.

Nevertheless, the church continues to enjoy a level of stability, despite a “mass exodus” of families largely from the city that accelerated especially in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when many of the major steel mills closed, DeLucia explained.

About three years ago, St. Dom’s established a 1 p.m. Sunday Mass for the area’s Spanish-speaking parishioners that welcomed many from Campbell, as well as St. Brendan Parish on the West Side and St. Rose Catholic Church in Girard. In addition, St. Dom’s has a bilingual Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, a process through which nonbaptized men and women enter the Catholic church.

Among those who attended the 100-year anniversary May 20 at the church was Dr. Thomas N. Detesco of Poland, who practiced internal medicine before his retirement.

Detesco’s parents, Dr. Andrew and Virginia Detesco, joined St. Dom’s in 1950, after Andrew Detesco was discharged from the U.S. Navy, where he served as a physician during World War II. In 1951, Thomas Detesco attended first grade at St. Dominic School, which had about 1,300 students in grades one through eight at the time, he recalled.

“I’ve had a Catholic education most of my life,” said Detesco, a Cardinal Mooney High School graduate whose siblings also attended St. Dominic School.

Detesco added that he often takes notes during church homilies and uses them “to meditate and pray on.” He also expressed gratitude for other aspects of the church’s past religious order.

“In remembrance of all St. Dominic’s friars, religious brothers and nuns who have belonged to one of the oldest Catholic Orders, the Dominicans, your parishioners are indebted to your faithful service,” he said in a statement.

Also thankful for the church and its leadership was Dr. Robert L. Gilliland of Boardman, a retired neurologist whose affiliation with St. Dom’s dates back at least 30 years.

“Each pastor has made a significant contribution to our lives and betterment of the church,” Gilliland, 89, said. “My wife and children feel this is part of our lives and community.”

The longtime neurologist added that his son and daughter attended eighth grade at the school.

Gilliland, who attends Mass regularly, also participates in a men’s fellowship about once per month. The group operates similarly to a book club because members select a religion-based book to read, reflect on and discuss “that’s apropos to life,” he explained.

In addition to St. Dom’s friars, four young Dominican seminarians are in the Valley for a few months serving the church and community by volunteering at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital and at a local soup kitchen. They also plan to conduct a series of lectures related to faith in God and other topics, DeLucia noted.

The seminarians are from the Dominican House of Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based Catholic institution that houses the Priory of the Immaculate Conception, which is a community of the Province of St. Joseph of the Order of Preachers.

DeLucia said despite challenges that many churches face that include declining membership numbers, revenue losses and shifting demographics, St. Dominic remains committed to adhering to the heart of its purpose and existence: Spreading God’s messages to the masses.

“The body of Christ continues forever. We reach people we need to reach; we do the best we can. The Dominicans preach the Word of God and try to bring others into the fold,” DeLucia explained, adding, “We have a strong identity and association with this parish, and it seems to stretch throughout the city.”