Episode 79: Saint Columba Catholic Church
Lemuel: I am Lemuel Gonzalez, repentant sinner, and along with Amity Armstrong, your heavenly host, I invite you to find a place in the pew for today’s painless Sunday School lesson. Without Works.
Amity: Saint Columba Catholic Church was founded in 1898, the result of a collaboration between Sacred Heart Church, Oakland and Saint Joseph the Worker Church in Berkeley. The founding pastor was Father Martin Whyte, formerly Assistant Pastor of Sacred Heart.
The original population of St. Columba Catholic Church was about 100 mostly Irish families. Following the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 the parish became 35% Italian, while the Irish population decreased to 20%. In the two decades after that earthquake, the number of African American parishioners grew.
On September 1, 1981, Father Paul Ross Vassar was assigned as pastor. His 13-year tenure was highlighted with a vision for liturgy that reflected the African American Catholic experience. Fr. Vassar initiated the St. Columba Annual African American Celebration, in conjunction with African American History Month (February), drawing nationally renowned African American speakers. Part of that celebration was – and continues to be—the Rawn Harbor Workshop Choir Experience; noted Catholic Liturgist Rawn Harbor would present a week-long workshop for choirs and singers from throughout the diocese.
The church is well-known for its social justice advocacy, including "Black Lives Matter" signage and support for the LGBTQ community. Each year, since 2004, white crosses have been erected on site to commemorate homicide victims. There is a commemorative community service at St. Columba each December, in which family members and friends meet and remember those lost to gun violence..
Lemuel: Tuesday morning, May FIfth, Adian McAleenan, a pastor at Saint Columba, noticed the desecration before morning mass. Sixteen of the memorial crosses had been ripped up and broken, a memorial fountain for the victims of the balcony collapse that killed six Irish students, was knocked over, and an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe torn from place.
No motive for the vandalism has surfaced, no manifestos were left behind. Church volunteer Pam Sanchez Hernandez said of the vandals, "However deeply troubled they are, they need help. That's probably their way of saying I need help, by being destructive like this."
Amity: This demonstrates the nature of Saint Columba; the attitude is service to the congregation and to community at large. We hear conservative voices complaining about the persecution of the Christian faith, and the erosion of Christian values, but when those values are expressed through compassion, mercy, and social justice, they are open to attack. Rather than asking for persecution, or even as some MAGA leaders have, the prosecution and or execution of the vandals responsible, they want to help restore that person or persons balance.
In Micah, Chapter 6: verse 8, the prophet describes the will of God towards his people:
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”