Abandoned Churches Are Still Beautiful

[Apotheoun]

Most of our churches closed NOT because of changed demographics, but because of the reality of living in an earthquake zone; after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, archdiocese ordered ALL of the churches to either retrofit or abandon the buildings.  Some of our most beautiful churches were locked because they lacked reinforcement to their masonry... My parish was spared ONLY because we were able to raise $8 million (and it ended up closer to $11 million with inflation... and then they found out about the $10 million we'd need for window and roof repair. 

Not because of demographics? I disagree. I have attended parishes in the San Francisco area for decades and attendance is down compared to the late 1980s. Did the earthquake bring about the closure of some Churches? Yes. But I would not describe the Catholic Church in San Francisco as healthy. Is it healthier than the Diocese of Oakland? Yes, but Mass attendance today is not what it was in the 80s.

[AnneLine]

I understand what you are saying.  

 

Many of the parishes within the Diocese of Oakland have been built in the suburbs in the 70's and 80's and 90's... and that is NOT an era well known for beautiful church architecture....   :console:  I actually like some of the buildings from the VERY early 1960's, but not much beyond that....

 

BUT the important thing is that God dwells there, yes?  And His People worship Him there?

 

And you are blessed to be able to go to the Dominican House of Studies, St. Albert's, which has a beautiful Church and services?

 

If you want a traditional liturgy, St. Margaret Mary's?

 

I'm sure there are good buildings and good liturgies if you look for them.  :)

 

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Actually the demographics of San Francisco HAVE changed, and the numbers of people in SF have dropped a lot in the last few years (not as much as in other large cities, but it still is a factor).  AND there are no longer any reasons to keep the French, German and Italian parishioners in separate parishes any longer... Archbishop Alemany in the 1800's had no choices, because the groups were at each other's throats... simply would NOT worship with each other, even when the services were in Latin.  ;) 

 

Mass attendance may not be what it was in the 1980s in some parishes, but the parish in which I am registered, St. Dominic's, has grown by leaps and bounds.  And the same with many of the parishes I frequent.   What has happened is that people are now encouraged to register at the parish that is not necessarily their geographical parish, but the one that helps them to worship best.  The parishes that have a strong liturgical base do well... especially if they combine it with solid formation and a good outreach to the poor or similar ministry.   The parishes that are super-poor are often supported by some of the richer parishes... enabling those with poor numbers but still a strong parish community to continue to exist when one might not expect they could do so.  And in a few places, closing and consolidating congregations has given the parishioners a new and thriving parish.  When St. Joseph's closed (the one highlighted in the video, btw...) they merged it with St. Patrick's about a mile away and only one block over.  They did it the right way, including having a big procession and carrying the beloved statues from St. Joseph's to their new home at St. Patrick's!

 

St. Patrick's had originally been built and paid for by Irish immigrants (might have guessed that!) but now it is almost exclusively a Filipino parish and parish utilized during the week by the working Catholic who work in the nearby downtown area.  It might look abandoned and unfilled on a weekend... but I can tell you it can be standing room only in there on major feast days.....during the work week.  And the masses are pretty full during the work week as well.  Sometimes you just don't see a parish unless you really attend it day-in-day out for a while....

 

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And speaking of good liturgies.. I am going to have to leave the computer soon to start traveling to Church!!!  Because of having to walk and then use 3 modes of transport to GET to St. Dominic's from here, I have to start a few hours before Mass.   It's worth it to me to go to a parish that has adoration, a good liturgy, and general is a good parish all around!

 

Will pray for you, Apo... and all of you!!!!

 

 

 

[Apotheoun]

Part of the reason for the merger of parishes in San Francisco is that the number of Catholics in the city has dropped by about 75,000 since 1990. I pray that the decline stops, but as a person born and raised in the SF Bay Area I know that the Church has an uphill battle in this bastion of political liberalism and religious indifferentism.

[Apotheoun]

And speaking of good liturgies.. I am going to have to leave the computer soon to start traveling to Church!!!  Because of having to walk and then use 3 modes of transport to GET to St. Dominic's from here, I have to start a few hours before Mass.   It's worth it to me to go to a parish that has adoration, a good liturgy, and general is a good parish all around!

I used to go to St. Dominic's all the time, because they had confessions on Sunday mornings. I also met Fr. Malady, who at the time was giving talks on Mariology at that parish in the 1990s.

Edited September 30, 2013 by Apotheoun

[Apotheoun]

Will pray for you, Apo... and all of you!!!!

Thanks! I will remember you in my prayers also. God bless.

[Apotheoun]

And you are blessed to be able to go to the Dominican House of Studies, St. Albert's, which has a beautiful Church and services?

 

I used to attend Melkite liturgy at the priory. It is a nice looking Church, very much like St. Catherine of Siena in Martinez. Although I think St. Catherine's is the aesthetically more pleasing of the two. St. Catherine's was run by the Dominicans for many years, and that is probably why it looks so much like the priory and St. Dominic's (on a much smaller scale) in San Francisco.

Edited September 30, 2013 by Apotheoun