Font ResizeOAKLAND — In a few months, parish communities who call Old St. Mary's Catholic Church in West Oakland their home will move out of the old and into the new, the sparkling glass Cathedral of Christ the Light which is nearing completion downtown.
But before they go, parishioners plan to offer a proper goodbye to their venerable and beloved church edifice on Jefferson and Eighth streets, which was the first Catholic Church established in Oakland, 155 years ago; once encompassed a school and convent; and provided social-service ministries to thousands of needy people during the decades.
While final Masses will be held during September, a special thanksgiving gathering and union liturgy is planned for 3 p.m. July 26. Organizers hope former parishioners, people in the neighborhood and graduates of the school — which closed in 1973 — will attend and reminisce.
"The parish community will continue at the new cathedral. But this is a special place, and we will all miss this old church so much," said Vida Felsenfeld, who grew up in the church and was a member of the school's final graduating class. Eight of her 11 brothers and sisters also attended school there.
"It's a piece of history that affected many lives, so it's nice to close it out with some further dignity," she said. "I think it will be a long time before I recover from this."
Felsenfeld fondly remembers Masses under the 50-foot arched ceiling of Old St. Mary's
She also remembers her mother praying to the statue of the baby Jesus. "I would stand behind her and wait, wondering what she was praying for," she said.
Indeed, generations of families have worshipped here, prayed here, cried here, married here. To date, there have been 4,932 weddings performed and 14,753 baptisms.
Grant Ute counted. He's a longtime parishioner and self-designated historian of Old St. Mary's, and he researched all the records to the 1800s.
"Oakland's first Catholic chapel was established on this site in 1853, and St. Mary's parish formed in 1858," Ute said. "In the early days, parishioners included members of the Peralta and Castro families, indigenous people and Californios," he said. "In the 1900s, there came a wave of Irish immigrants. Then Italian. Then Filipino in the '60s, and Vietnamese in the '70s. We now read liturgies in Spanish, Vietnamese, English and Tagalog."
In the early part of the 20th century, the Rev. Charles Philipps was credited with developing the church's forward-thinking social ministries, establishing a women's shelter, a senior center, a summer youth camp, and championing family farmers in rural parts of the state.
Many parishes branched off from St. Mary's. Then, with urban flight and shrinking attendance, some returned. In the early 1990s, St. Mary's merged with St. Francis de Sales, after its downtown cathedral was damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake. Then, a few years ago, they welcomed two other merged parishes, St. Andrew's and St. Joseph's. This amalgamated group at Old St. Mary's church is now named the Catholic Parish of Christ the Light.
The church's wood-frame and stucco building — just blocks from the neighborhood of Old Oakland —was completed in 1872, but has gone through several makeovers, surviving earthquakes and retrofits. By now, it's a well-worn structure. The sanctuary, chapels and frequently used areas have been maintained. But it has been tough to keep up with the needs of the aging building. Peeling paint can be found in unused sections, and the choir loft is currently off-limits for safety reasons.
"It's served us well, but it's used up its life," Ute said.
Some of the religious icons and statues in the church will make their way to the new cathedral, but few will find themselves in the sanctuary, instead displayed in small chapels and an exhibit area. "New art has been commissioned for the new building," Ute said. "It's very 21st century over there, so most of these things won't fit in. And we have so many items because of the mergers. Like the saints here," he said, walking to a row of near-life-size statues at the rear of the sanctuary. "We have four or five St. Josephs from all the different parishes," he said. "So, we'll have to cull the saints."
Once the old building has been vacated, it's not clear what the Diocese of Oakland will do with it. It may be sold, Ute said. No one at the diocese was available to comment Wednesday.
The new, 1,500-seat cathedral at Harrison Street and Grand Avenue, a $190 million project under construction for the past three years, is scheduled to open at the end of September. Its curved-glass shape rises up a dramatic 135 feet from a concrete base. It will include a public plaza, a cafe, a mausoleum, chancery offices, a 500-seat conference center, a 200-car garage, and residences for Bishop Allen Vigneron and cathedral pastor the Rev. Quang Minh Dong.
The cathedral will serve as home base for the diocese, which includes 500,000 Catholics in Alameda and Contra Costa counties who worship at 85 parishes.
During September, farewell Masses at Old St. Mary's will be held for each parish community within the church, with the final Mass — a union liturgy — Sept. 21. Dedication for the new cathedral is scheduled for Sept. 25, with its first Mass on Sept. 28.
Reach Angela Hill at 510-208-6493 or ahill@bayareanewsgroup.com.
