St Elizabeth Oakland CA Burns 1996

St. Elizabeth's Parish of Oakland, California and the Resiliency of Catholic Parish Life: FromGerman to Latino, from Pre- to Post-Vatican IIAuthor(s): Jeffrey M. BurnsReviewed work(s):Source: U.S. Catholic Historian, Vol. 14, No. 3, Parishes and Peoples: Religious and SocialMeanings, Part Two (Summer, 1996), pp. 57-74Published by: Catholic University of America PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25154563 .Accessed: 28/12/2011 12:28

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St Elizabeth's Parish of Oakland, California and the Resiliency of Catholic Parish Life: From German to Latino, from Pre- to Post

Vatican II

Jeffrey M. Burns

The history of St. Elizabeth's parish1 in the Fruitvale District of the city of

Oakland, California reflects the resiliency of the Catholic parish and its

ability to adapt to local needs and to new eras. From its foundation in

1892 until the opening of the Second Vatican Council in 1962, St. Elizabeth's

developed into a classic pre-Vatican II parish, that gloried in promoting the

Catholic subculture. The pre-Vatican II parish sought to take care of all its

parishioners' needs ? social, educational, religious, and even athletic ? and

to protect them from a hostile secular/Protestant environment. As such two pri

mary concerns of any parish were: the building of a complete parish plant to

provide facilities to take care of its parishioners' needs; and fundraising, to pay

off the debt incurred by building the complete parish plant.2 By its centennial in

1992, St. Elizabeth's had responded to the new social and religious currents of

the 1960s to emerge as a classic post-Vatican II parish which was less con

cerned about maintaining the Catholic subculture; rather it stressed the faith

witness of the parish to the larger community, greater community and neigh borhood involvement, greater lay responsibility, and a greater sensitivity to

1. This essay is based on two centennial histories I wrote for the parish, St. Elizabeth's Parish: A

Centennial History (Oakland, 1992), St. Elizabeth's Elementary School: 100 Years of Service (Oakland,

1993). Scholarly footnotes were not employed, and none will be provided here; however, all references

may be found in the special St. Elizabeth's Parish Collection, held at the Archives of the Archdiocese of

San Francisco. (AASF). The Special Collection holds materials from the following archives: Archives of

the Diocese of Oakland, the Franciscan Provincial Archives (Santa Barbara), the Archives of the

Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose, the St. Elizabeth's Parish Archives, the Oakland Public History

Room, the Library of the American Academy of Franciscan History, and of course, the AASF. Copies of

all the oral histories conducted for the study by the author have been deposited in the Special Collection at

the AASF.

2. See Jeffrey M. Burns, "Building the Best: A History of Catholic Parish Life in the Pacific States," in

Jay Dolan, Ed., The American Catholic Parish: A History from 1850 to the Present (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist

Press, 1987).

57

58 US. Catholic Historian

other cultures and religions. St. Elizabeth's parish and the Fruitvale District have experienced profound

economic and ethnic change over the course of their 100 plus years. St. Elizabeth's was initially established as a German national parish under the direction of the German Franciscan priests, who were already in charge of the German national parish in San Francisco, St. Boniface. The following year St.

Elizabeth's Elementary School(SEES) was initiated under the direction of the German Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose. Though distinctively German in outlook, SEES rapidly became a multicultural school. By 1895, the school included 61 German, 21 American, 24 Portuguese, 5 Italian, 4 French, and 2

Swedish students. In 1906, the parish was granted territorial status, and the

anti-German hysteria of World War I dramatically diminished the German tone

of the parish. In addition, large numbers of Irish began to move into Fruitvale.

By 1924, St. Elizabeth's was celebrating St. Patrick's day, and by 1934, it

referred to itself in an annual report, as a "German-Irish" parish. The Fruitvale area changed dramatically as well. In 1892, it was still a

rural/suburban area. A description of Fruitvale in 1893 reads, "Fruitvale's pride is its gardens, handsome residences and an avenue lined with trees." By the

1920s, Fruitvale was a pleasant middle and working class area of family homes and small businesses. Local businesses flourished in the strong neigh borhood economy of the Fruitvale shopping district.

By the 1950s things had begun to change in the Fruitvale and for St.

Elizabeth's. Younger generations began to leave the Fruitvale for suburban areas as increasing numbers of African American and Mexican Americans

began to move into the area. The demographic shift was coupled with the eco

nomic decline. As the once prosperous Fruitvale shopping district declined, the

district experienced problems typical of inner cities ? vandalism, drugs,

youth problems, etc. By 1965, Fruitvale was designated a target area in

Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty. Through it all St. Elizabeth played a vital

role in the Fruitvale district, providing the area with a sense of continuity, sta

bility, and support.

Building the Pre-Vatican II Parish3

Typical of the pre-Vatican II parish St. Elizabeth set about erecting the nec

essary buildings. By 1893, it had already constructed a church building con

taining rooms for the school and living quarters for the Franciscans. Soon a

3. For the early development of St. Elizabeth's, see Oliver Schutz, "German Catholics in California: The

German origins of St. Elizabeth's Parish, Oakland, and the Early Move to a Multi-Cultural Parish," U.S.

Catholic Historian, 12 (Summer 1994), 63-72.

St. Elizabeth's Parish of Oakland, California and the Resiliency of Catholic Parish Life 59

separate friary was added, as well as a convent. During the 1920s, under the

leadership of Pastor Ildephonse Moser, O.F.M., an intensive building program was undertaken, resulting in the construction of a new church (1921), a new

convent (1921), and a new school(a combined elementary and high school

building with gymnasium and cafeteria, 1924). One result of the building program was a large parish debt, requiring sacrifi

cial giving from parishioners as well as constant fundraisers, which became an

integral part of parish life at St. Elizabeth's. Fundraising did more than raise

money ? fundraisers such as whist parties, bazaars, dances, raffles, socials,

and so forth, also created a positive parish spirit. Parishioners were not only

brought into close contact with one another, but they also had a concrete goal toward which they were working, and to which they could point when they

were finished. Building and raising money gave members of St. Elizabeth's a

distinct sense of ownership of the parish, and helped develop a distinctive and

tenacious St. Elizabeth's identity.

During the period 1920 to 1945, the parish undertook a series of fundraising drives to retire the parish debt. As construction of the new church began, Father Ildephonse turned to local businessman and parishioner J.J. Krieg for

help in raising the necessary funds. Krieg spearheaded a subscription drive in

which he and a group of laymen approached virtually every family in the

parish for a pledge to the building fund. The subscription drive was a spectacu lar success, raising $185,000, the entire cost of the new church.

Construction of the convent and the school, however, left a parish debt in

excess of $300,000, and funds were not so readily forthcoming as they had

been for the church. Besides the building debt, there were the ordinary expens es of running a parish the size of St. Elizabeth's (3650 parishioners by 1935

and 5,200 by 1940). Until the mid-1920s a large part of ordinary parish income came from pew

rents. A family paid a suggested 750 a week pew rent. By the mid 1920s the

pew-rent system had been replaced by the Sunday envelope, which became the

ordinary means of parish support. These ordinary sources of revenue were

never enough; so special collections and fundraisers became common features

of parish life. Weekly appeals were made for the Building Fund in the 1920s.

The weekly parish bulletin, The Parish Messenger, suggested 250 a week, or

$1 a month be donated to the Building Fund. These appeals became standard

items in the weekly bulletin. J.J. Krieg developed a special double pocketed

envelope: one pocket was used for the regular weekly donation, and the other

for a donation to the Building Fund.

By 1934, despite the Depression, the parish debt had been reduced to

$197,696. In 1935, Moser proclaimed "A Crusade to End Parish Debt." The

Messenger headline for July 4, 1935 read, "Our Declaration of Independence from Parish Worry." Each parishioner who donated to the crusade had his or

60 U S. Catholic Historian

her name printed in the weekly Messenger with the amount they donated.

Hundreds and hundreds participated. As soon as the 1935 crusade ended, a

new crusade began, dubbed the "Golden Jubilee Crusade to End Parish Debt."

The new crusade pledged to retire the parish debt by 1942, the fiftieth anniver

sary of the parish. Again each donor had his or her name published in the

Parish Messenger. The 1942 date proved elusive as the parish also raised money to assist the

friars in rebuilding their friary, which had burned to the ground in 1937, and

pastor Victor Bucher, OFM added an additional crusade in 1938 to obtain a

new altar. In a particularly innovative campaign, Bucher asked parishioners to

save their old gold, and to donate it to provide funds for the new altar. The

Messenger published what it called the Crusader's Code:

I am abstaining from shows, smokes, drinks, and dances, I am practicing beneficial self denial, I am saving old nickels and dimes to help get a New Altar for the St.

Elizabeth's Church.

By 1939, a beautiful new "liturgical" altar was installed, with a new taber

nacle modeled after the one used at the Eucharistic Congress in Manila.

Despite the cost of the new altar, and despite the onset of the Second World

War, the parish debt was successfully retired by 1945. The Franciscan Annals

records the celebration, which seemed to equal the excitement of V-E or V-J

Day:

For four days and four nights the School Auditorium resounded with laughter, music

and gaiety (and the sweetest sound of all, the continuous click of the chance and gam

bling wheels!). . But there was a special spirit in all the rejoicing this year. Except for an

act of God, the parish mortgages were to be burned. The ceremony was one which will

never be forgotten by the more than a thousand parishioners who witnessed it. . . It was

10 P.M. Sunday, October 21, 1945. Flags, it seemed like hundreds of them, of all kinds

and sizes were massed on the stage. A sudden trumpet call brought the large crowd to

silence. Lights were dimmed. Into the spotlight stepped Fr. Victor Bucher, O.F.M., pas

tor. In a voice shaking with emotion he gave a brief report of the mortgages that were to

be burned. Suddenly the curtains parted revealing a brazier of red charcoal. The spot

light faded. The next instant, the Reverend Pastor had touched the mortgages to the fire.

Then for a few moments he stood with the flaming torch of burning paper, high above

his head as a living Statue of Liberty and freedom from monetary encroachments on St.

Elizabeth's Parish. As the flame rose higher and higher and flickered over the faces of

the vast crowd, from a thousand throats came the words and music of "Holy God, We

Praise Thy Name," followed by the "Star spangled Banner". Such thunderous applause,

jumping and dancing and offering of congratulations followed.


Beyond Building and Fundraising

The pre-Vatican II St. Elizabeth's provided a flourishing organizational and

devotional life: modalities for every age group, social clubs for teens and

young adults, fraternal societies, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, a Mothers'

Club, Altar Society, the Third Order of St. Francis, Holy Name Society, scouts,

parish athletic teams, and so forth. The schools provided a special focus for the

parish at large. Besides the grade school, a parish high school had been estab

lished in 1921. By 1941, the high school had close to 350 students, and the

grade school had over 600. By the mid 1960s enrollment at the schools peaked at a combined total of over 1,500 students. A great deal of parish life centered

on the schools ? benefits, socials, dramas and musicals, dances, dinners and

support of the school athletic programs. Great energy, emotional commitment, and financial resources were directed toward the support of the schools, which

were considered the pride of the parish. Parish organizational life was enhanced by a rich devotional life. Beautiful

music and liturgies became commonplace at St. Elizabeth's. Years before

Vatican II, St. Elizabeth's stressed lay participation in the liturgy. In 1924, booklets were printed and distributed at all masses so that the congregation could recite the mass along with the priest. The intent was to have lay people "more intimately united with the priest."

Frequent reception of communion was also encouraged. Most parish soci

eties received communion together at least once a month, and First Friday masses were well attended. The schools also encouraged daily attendance at

mass. The 8 a.m. Sunday mass was the children's mass, complete with chil

dren's choir, and Thursday was a school mass, as were all First Fridays. Children who attended mass daily were given special recognition at the end of

the year. While grounded in liturgy, the parish supported a host of other devotions:

Stations of the Cross every Friday of the year, and every day during Lent, reg ular family holy hours, Vespers on Sunday evening. Particularly popular were

novenas. During the 1920s and 1930s the following novenas were regular events: novenas to St. Rita, the Holy Ghost, the Sacred Heart, St. Joseph, St.

Clare, St. Anne, St. Francis, St. Therese of Liseux ? the Little Flower, the

Immaculate Conception, and the Infant of Prague. Besides the novenas there

were special ceremonies such as the blessing of the roses on the feast of St.

Rita, the blessing of the lilies on the feast of St. Anthony, and the blessing of

the children on the feast of the Holy Innocents. Especially festive and solemn

were the processions that accompanied the various devotions: the two most

elaborate processions were for the feast of Corpus Christi and for the May

Crowning when Mary was crowned Queen of Heaven. In both processions, all

the parish societies participated in the procession, appropriately dressed, and

62 U S. Catholic Historian

carrying their society's banner. At the May crowning, the procession was led

by the younger girls, all dressed in white, singing hymns to Mary. In addition to the regular parish devotions, the Franciscans encouraged their

own devotions such as the Holy Death of St Francis, and Francis's reception of

the stigmata. Most popular were the devotions to St. Anthony of Padua.

Parishioners were urged to "Try St. Anthony!" by placing their petitions for

special favors before the saint. The Parish Messenger frequently listed favors

granted as a result of the intercession of St. Anthony. Another popular Franciscan devotion was the Portiuncula Devotion

designed to assist souls in Purgatory. To receive this plenary indulgence,

parishioners were required to go to confession, receive Holy Communion, make a visit to the church, and recite the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be

six times. Many repeated the process more than once during the prescribed time.

During the 1950s, devotion to the Eucharist, and to the rosary, experienced a

revival. One parish report asserts that the number of communions received by

parishioners was "staggering." Devotions to Our Lady of Fatima flourished,

benefitting from the Cold War: the Fatima devotions encouraged praying the

rosary for the conversion of Russia. In May, 1950, a special statue of our Lady of Fatima was purchased by the parish. Every first Saturday the rosary was

recited at the Fatima shrine. As the Parish Messenger reflected,"A rosary a day

keeps the chaos away."

During the era 1892-1962, St. Elizabeth's successfully "kept the chaos

away" by providing its parishioners with a rich parish life that guided them

through every aspect of their lives, and through each passasge of their lives. St.

Elizabeth aggressively promoted the Catholic subculture, and worked to ensure

that each parishioner possessed a clear assurance of no other identity as a

Catholic and as a member of St. Elizabeth's.

The Transition

To many observers St. Elizabeth's and the Fruitvale area reached their peaks in the years following World War II. By the early 1950s, however, the parish and neighborhood were in state of transition. The Franciscan Annals for 1953

reported, "From a small, rustic community Fruitvale has grown into a compo nent part of a larger city. Therefore, Fruitvale has assimilated many of the

problems of a large city." Burglaries, vandalism, and drugs were beginning to

be concerns. In 1961, the Parish Messenger asserted, "The narcotics problem is a critical one here in Oakland. The effect on our precious youth is most

alarming," and the same year the Franciscan Annals lamented, "Once again the

Poor Box was robbed in our Church. In trying to dislodge it from the wall the


thieves did quite a bit of damage." The neighborhoods were also in transition. The once prosperous Fruitvale

shopping area was beginning to decline, as small businesses began to close.

The construction of the Nimitz Freeway in the 1950s dislocated many families, as did the creation of the Fruitvale BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station in the mid 1960s. The younger generations at St. Elizabeth's began to move to

the more suburban areas of San Leandro and Hayward, and the opening of the

Caldecott Tunnel made the inland areas of Lafayette, Walnut Creek, and

Concord more accessible. During World War II and after, significant numbers

of African Americans and Hispanics began moving into Oakland in search of

work in the rapidly growing defense industries. Many settled in East Oakland.

Unlike West Oakland, the Fruitvale area was not devastated by white flight,

though some did occur. Many of the older families, whose roots extended back

to the beginnings of the parish, remained in Fruitvale, providing a certain sta

bility to the area in the midst of the change.

The Post Vatican II Parish

While St. Elizabeth's and Fruitvale were beginning to change, the Catholic

Church and America underwent what has been described as a religious and

cultural earthquake. The Second Vatican Council brought change and turmoil

to the seemingly changeless Catholic Church. At the same time, America and

its fundamental values were called into question by a decade of turbulent

protests. St. Elizabeth's faced a triple challenge of responding to change in the

Fruitvale, in the Catholic Church, and in the United States.

Fortunately for St. Elizabeth's, Oliver Lynch, O.F.M., was installed as pas tor on June 18, 1961; he would remain for two fruitful and exciting decades.

Lynch was ideal. Born in Phoenix in 1912, he was ordained to the priesthood on June 12, 1938. Prior to coming to St. Elizabeth's he taught philosophy at

the Franciscan San Luis Rey Seminary; his teaching ability was most benefi

cial as he excelled in explaining to parishioners the new concepts introduced

by Vatican II. Since 1952, he had served at St. Joseph's Parish in Los Angeles, a congregation with a large Hispanic population; so he was prepared to

respond to the needs of that community at St. Elizabeth's. Lynch's greatest

strength was his personal holiness and warmth, qualities that elicited love by the parish community. One parishioner asserted simply, "Father Oliver was a

Godsend," while another echoed, "Fr. Oliver was a saint."

A central motif of the post-Vatican II parish was the need for greater lay

participation and responsibility. Essential to this was the somewhat novel

notion that lay parishioners should be treated as adults, and given real respon

sibility ? no longer were they to be docile followers of the priests and sisters.


Oliver Lynch, O.F.M., Pastor 1961-81 (All illustrations in this article are

Courtesy: Jeffrey M. Burns)

The new outlook required a shift in parish orientation. As Lynch put it, "The

principal spiritual need would be to make the parish more adult-centered and

less child centered than at present." Greater emphasis was placed on adult edu

cation, on parental responsibility in the religious education of children, and on

developing effective lay leadership. Parish leadership conferences designed to

develop leaders were hosted by St. Elizabeth's as early as 1964, but the prima

ry means for promoting lay leadership was the Cursillo retreat. The Cursillo

had first been introduced into California in 1961 at the Franciscan parish of St.

Mary's in Stockton. Lynch experienced his first Cursillo there in 1962; he then

brought it to St. Elizabeth's the same year. In 1964, he was appointed director

of Cursillo for the Diocese of Oakland. By that time three Cursillos had

already been held at St. Elizabeth's. The Cursillo was well suited to the chang

ing make-up of St. Elizabeth's as it was sensitive to the needs of Hispanics, while being accessible to Anglos as well. The Cursillo is an intensive three

day retreat that focuses on the individual's relation to Jesus, to the Church, and

to the community. Those who experienced Cursillo testified to the profound effect it had upon their lives. "It changed me entirely." "I came back much

more committed to the church." "I became much more involved with the

parish after that." Lynch encouraged every prospective parish leader to make a


Cursillo, first the husband, then the wife. The result was a highly motivated

and committed corps of leaders.

The emphasis on lay responsibility and adult education and formation led to

a most important body for lay leadership and involvement ? the Parish

Council. During the 1930s and 40s St. Elizabeth's maintained an Executive

Council, a lay board which oversaw parish social and financial affairs; howev

er, by the late 1950s, the Council was all but dead. In 1967, Lynch set about

organizing a parish council. The Parish Council by-laws asserted, "The pur

pose [of the parish council] shall be to provide for the laity, religious, and cler

gy of the parish a means of strong initiative and responsibility in developing St. Elizabeth's Parish as a Christian community." The Council created a series

of committees to oversee the various aspects of parish life, including commit

tees for liturgy, membership, social affairs, education, finance, community

relations, communications, building and maintenance. Later a performing arts

committee, and an Hispanic advisory council were added.

The new Council took a rather radical stance in regard to lay power, as in

the original by-laws, the pastor was not given veto power over the Council. As

the Messenger put it, "A parish council is the extension of the democratic

process to the parish." To his credit, Lynch abided by the guidelines set by the

66 U. S. Catholic Historian

Council, and allowed the Council to develop without undue clerical pressure. The success of St. Elizabeth's Parish Council encouraged council members

to share the fruit of their experience with other parishes. In May 1973 the Council initiated, organized, and directed a diocesan-wide parish council con

vention held at St. Elizabeth's. The organizers promised "a free flow of ideas."

Under the acronym SURE ? Support, Unity, Recognition, and Education ?

various issues were discussed that directly affected parish life. Each parish was

invited to send two representatives; about 150 people attended. After a second

gathering the following year, Bishop Floyd Begin suggested that the St. Elizabeth's Council direct its energies elsewhere, and the conventions were

discontinued. The Diocese of Oakland was not ready for "too much" democra

cy.

The Parish T\irns Outward

Spurred by the Vatican II directive to engage the world, St. Elizabeth's,

under Lynch's guidance, urged its parishioners to look beyond the parish and

to become involved in the community, or with what might have been called

previously "secular concerns." The 1969 parish report observed, "We need to

look beyond the parish to the larger community and ask: how can we make a

real contribution to the community?" Devotions and simple charity were no

longer enough. The pastor committed St. Elizabeth's to playing a major role in the Fruitvale

community. Repeatedly he pushed parishioners to become involved with com

munity problems. He observed, "concern for our neighbor cannot be limited to

those 'within' the Church and parish. If we are truly Christian, we must go to

those who are 'out there'." Repeatedly he reminded them that St. Elizabeth's

must be the "Christian leaven in the community." One simple step Lynch took

in this direction was to open St. Elizabeth's facilities to community groups, and though he was often cautioned by Bishop Begin, St. Elizabeth's became

the center of numerous community organizations, activities and meetings.

During the 1960s, St. Elizabeth's hosted a wide range of communal ser

vices, including a day-care center, a school for high-school dropouts, office

space for the Community Services Organization (CSO), and office space for

La Causa. In the early 1960s it hosted meetings of the Catholic Interracial

Council. The parish worked with and encouraged the development of commu

nity groups such as the Kennedy Tract Improvement Association, the Fruitvale

Action Committee, and the various groups that led to the creation of the

Spanish Speaking Unity Council.

Lynch aggressively pushed St. Elizabeth's into the ecumenical arena. From

the mid -1960s on, St. Elizabeth's regularly joined with local Protestant


churches for ecumenical prayer services. In addition, St. Elizabeth's ecumeni

cal concerns included such joint endeavors as the day care center and FOCUS, an ecumenically sponsored summer youth program held at St. Elizabeth's.

Most controversial was St. Elizabeth's participation in the East Oakland Parish

(EOP), created by Episcopal minister, Barry Bloom, in response to the racial

unrest and rioting in 1966 in Oakland. The EOP consisted of seven Protestant

churches and St. Elizabeth's. Ostensibly it engaged in "social and educational

work," supporting such community projects as senior housing, and youth cen

ters; however, its association with such groups as the Black Panthers and oth

ers made it seem much too radical to many at St. Elizabeth's. As Lynch under

stated it in 1967, "Many did not agree with the philosophy of the EOP or the causes it supported."

The EOP was not the only radical activity that made many parishioners uncomfortable. Lynch and several Franciscans were frequent participants at

protest rallies and marches. Two areas were particularly volatile: the Vietnam

War and the Farmworkers' struggle as led by Cesar Chavez. Parish concern for

Vietnam began in traditional fashion as in 1965 when St. Elizabeth's offered its

first Saturday rosary for peace in Vietnam, and sponsored a Saturday afternoon

prayer vigil for peace. As the war dragged on more and more parishioners,

priests, and parish staff became involved in the more radical protests of the late

1960s, with many openly supporting conscientious objectors and "draft

dodgers."

Lynch openly and aggressively supported Cesar Chavez and the UFW from

their initial strike in 1965 through the 1970s. Many parishioners, including three Dominican sisters, joined Chavez's famous march from Delano to

Sacramento. During the grape and lettuce boycotts, parishioners sent food,

money, and clothing to the UFW. Many parishioners, including the pastor,

joined various protests including the picketing of Safeway stores. On one occa

sion, Lynch allowed UFW organizers to stay in the old convent, on which they unfurled a large sign marked "HUELGA!" (STRIKE!). The UFW presence was met with some resistance in the parish, but the majority of parishioners

enthusiastically supported UFW efforts. Regularly, a St. Elizabeth's "caravan"

made its way to Delano, carrying supplies and offering support.

The Growth of the Oakland Community Organization (OCO)

The most effective and enduring of the community programs and organiza tions that Lynch and St. Elizabeth's initiated was the Oakland Community

Organization (OCO). In 1972, the pastor, invited Jesuits, John (Jack) Baumann

and Jerry Helfrich, trained in the Saul Alinsky school of community organiz

ing, to come to Oakland to do some grass roots organizing. On November 17,


St. Elizabeth's school children in schoolyard between church and convent

around 1905.

1972, the two priests opened the Oakland Training Institute (OTI) in East

Oakland. The OTI was not only concerned with organizing but it also served as

a "pastoral and urban training program" for Jesuit seminarians. Within two

years of its foundation, the OTI had helped to establish seven community orga nizations and had worked with neighborhood block clubs which had grown out

of War on Poverty programs. In the early days the OTI concentrated on neigh borhood organizing, and focused on local issues. The first issues were relative

ly simple and intensely localized. One parishioner recalls that the first issue

addressed in her neighborhood was the problem of stray dogs. The OTI program required the organizers to go from door to door to meet

and talk with the people of the area. The organizers then hosted a neighbor hood meeting, where common concerns could be discussed and specific actions planned. The Oakland Catholic Voice observed that people were unac

customed to having priests so intimately involved in community affairs. "In the

past people would rarely come to a priest for help in their broader neighbor hood problems . . . today, residents of East Oakland areas have become quite accustomed to doing so." The success of this type of organizing, however, was

not dependent on clerical efforts. People had to take control of their own

neighborhood. Jack Baumann observed, "The key ... is allowing the people themselves to set their own goals and to determine the issues which they feel

are important to them. Then the people do all the work with the priests stand

St Elizabeth's Parish of Oakland, California and the Resiliency of Catholic Parish Life 69

ing only in the background to give advice when it is needed."

Part of the genius of the OTI method was the development of local leaders.

One parishioner, Fran Matarrese, came to chair the East Oakland Housing

Committee, which addressed the problem of affordable housing in the

Fruitvale area, and pushed to have vacant buildings rehabilitated. She also led

the successful fight to keep the local branch of the Oakland Public Library

open. Other parishioners succeeded in getting a flashing yellow light on 34th

Avenue in front of the school, as well as forcing the closure of several local

massage parlors. By 1974 the parish report acknowledged, "People in the

parish are taking leadership roles in community movements with significant results... The OTI has helped the parish and the parish has helped the OTI."

St. Elizabeth's often served as the location for meetings with city officials.

In 1976, five Oakland neighborhood groups conducted public hearings at St.

Elizabeth's on recreation, housing, employment, crime, and neighborhood

development. The hearings were an important step on the way to the creation

of OCO.

In 1977, an umbrella group called the All Oakland Organization was devel

oped to help organize all the local neighborhood groups. On May 14, 1977 a

community convention was held at Merritt College, and was attended by

neighborhood clubs, area organizations, merchant groups, and the OTI. The

All Oakland Organization, which came to be called the Oakland Community

Organization, was to provide "a forum on city-wide problems." The smaller

groups would maintain their identity, while participating in the larger OCO to

combat larger problems. Fran Matarrese was elected vice-president of the

OCO and would later serve as its president. In 1985, the OCO experimented with a new approach and began organizing

parishes and congregations rather than neighborhoods. The parish base

enabled the groups to move beyond the neighborhood, while still incorporating

neighborhood concerns; the parish organization also provided a more stable

base. Early in 1985, the St. Elizabeth's Parish Community Organization

(SEPCO) was founded. More than 200 families were interviewed to determine

the specific concerns of parishioners. A parish forum was then held. The main

issue which rallied SEPCO was the deterioration of the Fruitvale area ?

garbage, drugs, crime, and concerns about the local environment's effect on

youth. SEPCO organized a neighborhood clean up. It also arranged a meeting with Oakland Police Chief, George Hart. Over 400 attended. The meeting was

followed up with a meeting with the Police Vice Squad. One outcome of the

meeting was a 911 service for the Spanish speaking. The key to OCO success has been its ability to empower people to take

control of their own neighborhoods and to enable them to influence city policy. The support of the St. Elizabeth's parish community has been essential to the

success of the OCO.


The Growth of the Hispanic Community

In addition to the changes wrought by the Second Vatican Council, St.

Elizabeth's also adapted to the changing demographics. By the early 1950s, the flow of Hispanics into the Fruitvale area was well underway, though they remained a minority in the parish until the 1970s. By 1971, the elementary school was 52% Hispanic, and by 1990 Hispanics represented a clear majority at St. Elizabeth's. The transition of the parish from a German-Irish parish to a

multicultural parish consisting of Hispanics, Anglos, Filipinos, African

Americans and others, was not without conflict. As Lynch noted in a 1967

report, "Tensions exist. It would be absurd to deny them." Throughout the

1960s and 1970s the desire to forge a unity out of all the groups remained a top

parish priority. The 1969 parish report stressed that "the need to bring people together in tolerant understanding, in friendship, is an urgent need." But as the

1973 parish report sadly observed, "Anglos, Latins, Blacks, and Filipinos still

do not relate to each other as one community in Christ." As late as 1992, one

parishioner observed that the Spanish-speaking community and the Anglo

community have never melded together. "We've had two parishes sharing the

same pastor." Nonetheless, one long-time Hispanic parishioner acknowledged in 1992 that things had gotten considerably better ? little remained of the

conflict and tensions that afflicted relations between the two groups in the late

1960s ? there is "now a better understanding" between the various groups. The arrival of Father Lynch fresh from the Hispanic parish of St. Joseph's in

Los Angeles, brought a pastor sensitive to the needs of the Spanish-speaking

community. In addition, the Franciscans in California were placing increased

emphasis on Hispanic ministry under the provincial leadership of Alan

McCoy, O.F.M. Lynch's program for Hispanic ministry was two-pronged,

stressing liturgy and community involvement. In 1963, a "misa comunitaria"

was begun at St. Elizabeth's on the first Saturday of each month with sermon

and songs in Spanish and confession in Spanish prior to the mass. The mass

was followed by a breakfast in the parish auditorium. In 1965, Lynch, reflect

ing his concern for the spiritual welfare of the Hispanic community, found,

"There is a need for spiritual renewal among the Latin Americans in the parish who identify neither with the parish nor the Church as they should. This

requires much personal contact on the part of both priest and layman." One

means of spiritual renewal was the Cursillo. Another was the parish mission.

In February 1966, Redemporist priests conducted the first parish mission given in Spanish.

The pastor also attempted to provide service agencies to care for the tempo ral needs of the Spanish speaking. A 1963 report observes, "concern for the

Spanish speaking prompted Fr. Oliver to purchase a building on 35th Ave. next

to the high school playground to house a parish employment office, a social


service bureau, and a Cursillo center." As it had done for other community

organizations, St. Elizabeth's made its facilities available to groups that specif

ically catered to the Spanish-speaking community. In 1965, the parish hosted

the Mexican American Unity Council which invited all Latin Americans to

come and discuss the anti-poverty programs initiated by the War on Poverty. Over the next several years the parish supported the Spanish-speaking advisory committee and information center, and ultimately the Spanish Speaking Unity Council. The parish also provided office space for La Causa, an organization

designed to assist Latin American high-school graduates with getting into col

lege. La Causa provided counseling, information, and encouragement. The

parish supported two significant agencies that provided the Hispanic commu

nity with much needed services ? the Clinica de la Raza> begun in 1972,

which provided inexpensive medical service, and El Centro Legal de la Raza,

founded in 1973, which did the same for legal services.

The main desire of the Spanish-speaking community was to obtain a mass

in Spanish, once liturgy in the vernacular was allowed. Many Spanish speaking attended mass at St. Mary's in West Oakland, which provided a mass with

Spanish sermon. On July 1, 1966, the small mission church, Mary, Help of

Christians, became the responsibility of St. Elizabeth's Parish. Founded in

1915, Mary, Help of Christians had originally served as a Portuguese national

parish. By 1940 it had been expanded to include Italians and Mexicans. Many of the Spanish speaking in St. Elizabeth's began attending Mary, Help of

Christians as it offered two masses in Spanish on Sunday, as well as a number

of devotions oriented toward the Hispanic community. It also sponsored

socials, discussion groups, and Bible study, all in Spanish. In keeping with the newly found interest in Hispanic ministry, the

Franciscans established Mary, Help of Christians as an "experimental aposto late." Rev. Antonio Sclabassi, O.F.M., took charge of the parish with a parish team consisting of two Maryknoll seminarians, several Franciscan seminari

ans, one Holy Family sister, and one Dominican sister. The team planned an

"intensive pastoral program" focusing on the adult population, and consisting of home visitations, preparation of adults to teach CCD classes, parent educa

tion programs, recreational activities, Cursillos, and community renewal pro

grams. The team worked with the neighborhood organization, the Kennedy Track Improvement Association, and established a day care center. Mary, Help of Christians did have a representative on the St. Elizabeth's parish council, and though Lynch worked hard to incorporate the mission into St. Elizabeth's,

Mary, Help of Christians remained a separate community.

Though Mary, Help of Christians provided services in Spanish, it did not

satisfy St. Elizabeth's Hispanic community, who considered St. Elizabeth their

parish. In 1969, the Hispanic community presented the Parish Council with a

petition signed by 100 parishioners requesting a mass in Spanish for the parish.


Community ecumenical meeting at St Elizabeth's.

The petition provided the council with some consternation. Several council

members argued that a separate mass for the Spanish speaking would divide

the community ?

liturgy was supposed to unite the parish, not divide it.

Underlying the consternation of some, however, was an inability to accept the

changing face of the St. Elizabeth's community; letting go of the old parish and the old ways was difficult. This difficulty was not limited to the council, but was a problem for the parish in general. When a Spanish mass had been

allowed every Saturday morning in Lent several months earlier, there had been

some murmuring. The Parish Messenger offered this rebuke, "We hope there

is no foundation to the rumored criticism of the 9:00 a.m. Saturday Lenten

mass for our Spanish-speaking parishioners. After all, there are 48 masses in

English offered each week during Lent here at St. Elizabeth's." Despite the

murmurings the Parish Council approved a Sunday Spanish mass to be held on

a trial basis in the high school auditorium. On May 4, at 11:30 a.m., using a

portable altar obtained from the local seniors' residence, Our Lady's Home, Rev. Emilio de la Fuente celebrated mass in Spanish for a crowd of approxi

mately 300 people. Each week the people came, set up the chairs and altar, cel

ebrated mass, then put the chairs and altar away. Many began to wonder, "Why not the church?" Celebrating mass in the auditorium, according to one parish

ioner, made the Hispanic community feel "segregated" from the rest of the

parish, or as Lynch put it, "Many of the Spanish speaking feel like second class

citizens" in the parish. Finally, the Parish Council approved the request that the


Spanish mass be held in the church. The first Spanish mass was held there on

September 28,1969, with approximately 500 people in attendance.

The increased activity and visibility of the Hispanic community continued

to cause some friction in the parish. In a letter to Bishop Begin in August,

1969, Lynch acknowledged, "Our Spanish-Anglo problem is rather touchy at

present," and a report presented to the Parish Council in 1971 entitled, "The

Spanish Speaking Community Looks at Its Parish," concluded somewhat icily, "The Spanish-speaking of the parish, would like to be treated not only as a

race of Catholics, but as Catholics that belong to a human race."

Constant efforts were made to unify Anglo and Hispanic parishioners. Antonio Soltero, a Parish Council member, chaired a social committee

designed to increase interaction between the two groups. His committee hosted

a series of socials/fundraisers including dances, picnics, baseball games and so

on. When Soltero left the committee in 1972, the Parish Messenger observed,

"Tony Soltero has tried to incorporate the Latinos into the social life of the

parish, and with much success." In reality, the success was less than was

hoped. In 1972, an "International" dinner was held to gather the various ethnic

groups together, but the response was disappointing. Similarly, fiestas spon sored by the Hispanic community were poorly attended by Anglo parishioners,

while Anglo-sponsored events such as the Oktoberfest dinner dance were

poorly attended by Hispanics. The pastor attempted to unite the two communities through bilingual litur

gies, particularly at Christmas and at Easter, but bilingual liturgies were never

terribly popular ?

they took too long and required too much preparation. By

1975, the parish celebrated two complete sets of Holy Week liturgies ? one

in Spanish, one in English. The central unifying point for both communities was Lynch, who was loved

by Hispanic and Anglo alike. He worked hard to reduce tensions between the

two communities. With Lynch the Hispanic community knew they had a

strong advocate, while the Anglo community trusted him to be fair and open.

Through him the communities learned to work together, though they often pre ferred to remain separate.

Despite the difficulties involved in achieving an integrated parish communi

ty, the Hispanic community did grow and prosper at St. Elizabeth's. The most

influential Hispanic group in the parish was the Comite Guadalupana, some

times called simply the Guadalupanas. The Guadalupanas were initially established to plan the celebration of the Feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

They met monthly for devotions and to plan and work on fundraisers designed to earn the needed money for the December 12 celebration. In the early 1970s, the Guadalupanas hosted a series of dinner dances, and by the mid 1970s, they

were hosting an annual fiesta held each August. The actual celebration of the

feast was becoming more elaborate. Besides mananitas, the celebration now


included a procession down 34th Avenue and included a dramatic presentation of the Guadalupe event as well as ceremonial dances. The celebration usually ended with a fiesta in the parish hall.

Over the years of Lynch's pastorate, the importance of the Comite

Guadalupana grew. The pastor used the Comite as an Hispanic advisory coun

cil designed to keep him abreast of the needs of Hispanic parishioners. In

1969, the Parish Council established a special "ad hoc committee for the

Spanish speaking" of the parish, but the committee was short-lived. Its role

was taken over by the Comite. For example, in 1972 Lynch suggested that the

parish liturgy committee obtain a mariachi band to play regularly at the 11

a.m. Spanish mass. Before obtaining a band, however, Lynch said he would

first submit the proposal to the Comite Guadalupana; if they opposed it, he

would not proceed with the project. An interesting aside ? the adoption of

mariachis was not a foregone conclusion. In 1970, a Spanish choir had been

formed, and many preferred an indigenous music group. Others considered

mariachi music the "music of the cantina" and thus not appropriate for mass.

Others, however, rejoiced in the mariachi music, and mariachi music has since

been regularly featured at the parish. The point here, however, is the way in

which Lynch deferred to the Comite Guadalupana. It was the unofficial parish

advisory committee on Hispanic affairs.

The expanded role of the Comite, is evident in a series of announcements

posted in the Parish Messenger in 1975. The Comite asked what could be done

for Hispanic parishioners?, "Que puede, y debe, la parroquia hacer para

responder a las necessidades de nuestras filigreses de habla espanol?" [What

can, and should, the parish do to respond to the needs of our Spanish speaking

parishioners?] By 1980, the Guadalupanas had expanded their concerns to

general needs. For instance, that year they sponsored a raffle to raise college

scholarships for Hispanic students.

By the 1980s, the importance of the Guadalupanas waned, as the Hispanic

community had become the majority, and as such became more involved in the

formal decision-making process of the parish. Still, the parish continues the

struggle to become an integrated, multi-cultural parish.

Conclusion

For more than a century St. Elizabeth's has testified to the resilience and

malleability of the Catholic parish. Confronted with significant religious,

social, economic and demographic changes, St. Elizabeth's has responded and

adapted to provide for the needs of its people. From pre- to post-Vatican II,

from German to Latino, St. Elizabeth's has remained an integral faith commu

nity and dynamic presence in the Fruitvale District of Oakland.

Documents

St Elizabeth Oakland CA Burns 1996