St. Basil Catholic Church
Encyclopedia
St. Basil Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic church and parish in the Los Angeles Archdiocese
, Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region
. The church is located at 3611 Wilshire Boulevard
in the Wilshire
district of Los Angeles, California
. The church was built from 1967-1969 and dedicated in 1969. In 1969 and 1970, the church was the site of pickets and demonstrations by Chicano Movement
protesters who objected to the archdiocese's expenditure of substantial funds on construction of the new church rather than on the poor and social justice programs.
, Bishop John Cantwell
announced the creation of a new parish to be named after St. Basil
. The parish was created on November 26, 1919. Father William McDermott Hughes (1880–1939) was named as the pastor of St. Basil.
The first permanent church for the St. Basil parish was built at 7th and Catalina and was dedicated on November 21, 1920. In 1922, Father Edward Kirk (1884–1949) became St. Basil's second pastor; he remained the pastor for 27 years until his death in 1949.
In June 1923, Bishop Cantwell divided the parish, creating the Precious Blood
parish in the eastern section of the parish. With the shift in boundaries, the parish acquired a new site at Wilshire and Harvard, and the existing church was cut into three parts and moved to the new site.
In October 1943, the church was badly damaged by a fire and subsequently rebuilt. In 1949, Monsignor Henry W. Gross (1891‐1973) became the third pastor of St. Basil. He remained pastor for 20 years until his retirement in 1969.
In August 1965, Msgr. Gross announced preliminary plans to build a new 40000 square feet (3,716.1 m²) complex at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Kingsley Drive. The new structure was designed by the A.C. Martin architectural firm, which had also designed the original church structure in 1920. The church was built by the Pozzo Construction Company between 1967 and 1969.
The new church was dedicated on June 29, 1969, in ceremony presided over by Cardinal James Francis McIntyre and Archbishop Timothy Manning. On December 15, 1969, Monsignor Benjamin Hawkes (1919‐1985) was appointed as the fourth pastor of St. Basil. He served as the pastor for 16 years until his death in 1985.
In 1985, Father M. Francis Meskill (1934‐1998) was appointed as the fifth pastor of St. Basil. He remained pastor for 13 years until his death in September 1998.
In 1998, Monsignor Charles Hill was appointed as St. Basil's sixth pastor. He served as pastor for eight years until 2006 when he retired for medical reasons. He remains with the parish as pastor emeritus.
In July 2006, Father Frank Hicks was appointed as administrator of St. Basil. In 2008, he was appointed as the seventh pastor in the history of the St. Basil parish.
from the time of its dedication in June 1969 through 1970. Protesters complained over the extravagance of the archdiocese in spending nearly $3 million on land and improvements to erect the large concrete church.
At the dedication ceremony on June 29, 1969, more than 30 picketers paraded in front of the church carrying placards. The picket signs included such phrases as, "$1,000,000 for glass and stone, but ? for the Poor," "A Monument to Opulence," "We Are Concerned About This Waste," and "Where is the concern for the poor?"
The protests escalated at the church's Midnight Mass
on December 25, 1969. Accounts differ on the events of that night. The Los Angeles Times portrayed the protesters as a mob under the headline, "Club-Swinging Mob Breaks Into Church at Christmas Mass." According to the Times, the club-swinging mob of 200 demonstrators smashed the outer, heavy glass doors of the church. Parishioners and off-duty sheriff deputies hired to act as ushers tried to repulse the demonstrators, but members of the protesting group were already inside and opened the doors, allowing the demonstrators to pour into the church. A fight broke out between the demonstrators, on the one part, and parishioners and deputies, on the other part.
The protests continued after Christmas led by individuals associated with the Chicano movement. A spokesman for La Raza
told the Los Angeles Times that the protests had been directed against St. Basil Church because "its is a new $3 million structure that graphically illustrates the misapplication of funds which should be devoted to the poor and to social justice."
Chicano leader Oscar Acosta
described the event in his book, The Revolt of the Cockroach People. Acosta wrote:
On the Sunday following the Christmas protest, Antulio Parrilla, a Roman Catholic bishop from Puerto Rico
, joined the Chicano protesters outside St. Basil. According to the Los Angeles Times, the mass was preceded by a parade of more than 60 placard-carrying picketers from the Coalition of Concerned Catholics and was attended by "100 Chicano militants and sympathizers." Bishop Parilla celebrated mass on a vacant lot across Wilshire Boulevard from St. Basil's. Bishop Parrilla was joined in the mass by Father Mark Day, chaplain to Cesar Chavez
's United Farm Workers
, and Father William Davis, a Jesuit missionary from New York. The three, dressed in white surplices, "conducted mass on a rough wooden table which served as an altar." In his homily, Bishop Parrilla spoke against the Vietnam War
, referring to young men who were imprisoned as conscientious objectors as "political prisoners." He added, "I am totally in support of the Chicano cause."
As Bishop Parrilla delivered his Mass outside, the regular Sunday Masses proceeded inside St. Basil's church. A spokesman from the archdiocese addressed the parishioners before the masses and referred to the protesters as an "articulate, professionally organized minority" and as "militant revolutionaries."
In early January 1970, the protesters, described by the Los Angeles Times as "50 Chicanos and sympathizers," began a fast outside St. Basil's. Richard Cruz, one of the protest leaders, told the Times: "We, Catolicos por la Raza, have chosen to begin the year 1970 by a public fast at St. Basil's to demonstrate our convections to our people, the Chicano and to our Catholic brothers whose support we seek in our struggle with the hierarchy of the Church." Cruz added that the protesters would "not allow the hierarchy or their army, under the guise of law enforcement officers, to disrupt our demonstrations of faith." The fast ended after three days with 75 Chicanos and supporters attending a Mass, and being welcomed, at St. Basil's.
In May 1970, 15 individuals involved in the Christmas protests were put on trial of various misdemeanor offenses. Eleven of the individuals were convicted. In June 1970, Judge David Aisenson sentenced two of the protest leaders to jail sentences of 60 and 90 days. At the time of sentencing, the Judge told the defendants, "Government by blow horn and tantrum will not be tolerated."
The protests at St. Basil's continued into the fall of 1970. In September 1970, a group of Chicano protesters gathered at St. Basil's for an outdoor religious service on the church steps in which the participants burned their baptism certificates. The act was intended as "an expression of frustration in dealing with church authorities in discussing Mexican-American problems." On viewing the Sunday protest, one woman parishioner was heard saying, "Why doesn't someone push them (the demonstrators) down the steps!" However, the protest was peaceful and without violence.
The building is a combination of 12 angular, adjacent concrete towers, each 80 feet (24.4 m) high, separated by full-length, irregular shafts of stained glass. The concrete towers are irregularly designed -- some thicker at the top than at the bottom, others tapering from the bottom up, and some perpendicular. The church spire is 160 feet (48.8 m) high and the cross at the top rises another 20 feet (6.1 m) above the spire.
Albert C. Martin told the Los Angeles Times in 1967 that "the fortress-like composition of towers was suggested by 3rd and 4th century Christian church design and features of early monastic buildings." Martin's firm described the design concept as "a marriage of early Christian with contemporary to recall the time when the church often served as a place of refuge. It is devoid of external embellishments as early churches were, but it is not a carbon copy of early churches. It at one time retains the feeling of the past and present."
Los Angeles Times religion editor Dan L. Thrapp described the concept in June 1969 as follows:
The construction of the church required more than 9,000 cubic yards of concrete, and the walls were "bush‐hammered to create a rough texture and expose the color of the aggregate."
The interior of the church has seating for 900 persons. A 13th Century crucifix is suspended above the altar, and contemporary sculpture and artwork also adorns the interior. Sculptor Claire Falkenstein
created the stained glass windows as well as the doors and gates. This project is considered by many to be her finest work.
Architect Richard Dorman defended the design against critics who attacked the extravagance of the structure. Dorman told the Los Angeles Times in November 1969 that the church has to make a positive statement with its architecture from time to time and praised St. Basil's as such a statement. Dorman noted, "You make a list of the 25 best buildings in Los Angeles, and St. Basil's would be on it -- in anyone's list."
In February 1973, St. Basil received an Award of Merit from the American Institute of Architects
for "excellence in design and execution."
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the archdiocese comprises the California counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The diocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the...
, Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region
Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region
The Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region is a pastoral region of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in the Roman Catholic Church. It covers Downtown and central Los Angeles west to Malibu, south to LAX. The current regional auxiliary bishop is Bishop Edward W. Clark...
. The church is located at 3611 Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...
in the Wilshire
Wilshire, Los Angeles, California
Wilshire is an area in Los Angeles, California, north of I-10, east of Beverly Hills and the Westside, west of Downtown LA and south of Hollywood, and contains, or abuts the districts of Mid-City West and Mid-Wilshire....
district of Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. The church was built from 1967-1969 and dedicated in 1969. In 1969 and 1970, the church was the site of pickets and demonstrations by Chicano Movement
Chicano Movement
The Chicano Movement of the 1960s, also called the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, also known as El Movimiento, is an extension of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement which began in the 1940s with the stated goal of achieving Mexican American empowerment.-Origins:The Chicano Movement...
protesters who objected to the archdiocese's expenditure of substantial funds on construction of the new church rather than on the poor and social justice programs.
Parish history
With the growth of Los Angeles to the west from downtown along Wilshire BoulevardWilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...
, Bishop John Cantwell
John Joseph Cantwell
John Joseph Cantwell was the first archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.Archbishop Cantwell was born in Limerick, Ireland. He was ordained priest for the Archdiocese of San Francisco on June 18, 1899 and was initially assigned as curate of Berkeley's St. Joseph The Worker...
announced the creation of a new parish to be named after St. Basil
Basil of Caesarea
Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, was the bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor . He was an influential 4th century Christian theologian...
. The parish was created on November 26, 1919. Father William McDermott Hughes (1880–1939) was named as the pastor of St. Basil.
The first permanent church for the St. Basil parish was built at 7th and Catalina and was dedicated on November 21, 1920. In 1922, Father Edward Kirk (1884–1949) became St. Basil's second pastor; he remained the pastor for 27 years until his death in 1949.
In June 1923, Bishop Cantwell divided the parish, creating the Precious Blood
Precious Blood Catholic Church (Los Angeles)
Precious Blood Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic church and parish in the Los Angeles Archdiocese, Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region. The church is located one block north of Lafayette Park at 435 South Occidental Boulevard in the Westlake section of Los Angeles, California...
parish in the eastern section of the parish. With the shift in boundaries, the parish acquired a new site at Wilshire and Harvard, and the existing church was cut into three parts and moved to the new site.
In October 1943, the church was badly damaged by a fire and subsequently rebuilt. In 1949, Monsignor Henry W. Gross (1891‐1973) became the third pastor of St. Basil. He remained pastor for 20 years until his retirement in 1969.
In August 1965, Msgr. Gross announced preliminary plans to build a new 40000 square feet (3,716.1 m²) complex at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Kingsley Drive. The new structure was designed by the A.C. Martin architectural firm, which had also designed the original church structure in 1920. The church was built by the Pozzo Construction Company between 1967 and 1969.
The new church was dedicated on June 29, 1969, in ceremony presided over by Cardinal James Francis McIntyre and Archbishop Timothy Manning. On December 15, 1969, Monsignor Benjamin Hawkes (1919‐1985) was appointed as the fourth pastor of St. Basil. He served as the pastor for 16 years until his death in 1985.
In 1985, Father M. Francis Meskill (1934‐1998) was appointed as the fifth pastor of St. Basil. He remained pastor for 13 years until his death in September 1998.
In 1998, Monsignor Charles Hill was appointed as St. Basil's sixth pastor. He served as pastor for eight years until 2006 when he retired for medical reasons. He remains with the parish as pastor emeritus.
In July 2006, Father Frank Hicks was appointed as administrator of St. Basil. In 2008, he was appointed as the seventh pastor in the history of the St. Basil parish.
Chicano protests of 1969-1970
The church became a focal point of protests by the Chicano MovementChicano Movement
The Chicano Movement of the 1960s, also called the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, also known as El Movimiento, is an extension of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement which began in the 1940s with the stated goal of achieving Mexican American empowerment.-Origins:The Chicano Movement...
from the time of its dedication in June 1969 through 1970. Protesters complained over the extravagance of the archdiocese in spending nearly $3 million on land and improvements to erect the large concrete church.
At the dedication ceremony on June 29, 1969, more than 30 picketers paraded in front of the church carrying placards. The picket signs included such phrases as, "$1,000,000 for glass and stone, but ? for the Poor," "A Monument to Opulence," "We Are Concerned About This Waste," and "Where is the concern for the poor?"
The protests escalated at the church's Midnight Mass
Midnight Mass
Midnight Mass is a Christmas Eve liturgical tradition in the Roman Catholic church.Midnight Mass may also refer to:* Midnight, Mass., a Vertigo comics series* Midnight Mass, a 2004 novel by F...
on December 25, 1969. Accounts differ on the events of that night. The Los Angeles Times portrayed the protesters as a mob under the headline, "Club-Swinging Mob Breaks Into Church at Christmas Mass." According to the Times, the club-swinging mob of 200 demonstrators smashed the outer, heavy glass doors of the church. Parishioners and off-duty sheriff deputies hired to act as ushers tried to repulse the demonstrators, but members of the protesting group were already inside and opened the doors, allowing the demonstrators to pour into the church. A fight broke out between the demonstrators, on the one part, and parishioners and deputies, on the other part.
The protests continued after Christmas led by individuals associated with the Chicano movement. A spokesman for La Raza
La Raza
In the Spanish language the term Raza translates to "race". Its meaning varies amongst various Spanish-speaking peoples. For instance, in Spain, "Raza" may denote specifically Spanish and often of a something or someone of a European Christian heritage. The Francoist film Raza, from 1944, which...
told the Los Angeles Times that the protests had been directed against St. Basil Church because "its is a new $3 million structure that graphically illustrates the misapplication of funds which should be devoted to the poor and to social justice."
Chicano leader Oscar Acosta
Óscar Acosta
Óscar Acosta is a Honduran writer, critic, politician and diplomat. Acosta started as a journalist in Peru for Tegucigalpa Magazine....
described the event in his book, The Revolt of the Cockroach People. Acosta wrote:
"It is Christmas Eve in the year of Huitzilopochtli, 1969. Three hundred Chicanos have gathered in front of St. Basil's Roman Catholic Church. Three hundred brown-eyed children of the sun have come to drive the money-changers out of the richest temple in Los Angeles. [...] From the mansions of Beverly Hills, the Faithful have come in black shawls, in dead furs of beasts out of foreign jungles. Calling us savages, they have already gone into the church, pearls in hand, diamonds in their Colgate teeth. Now they and Cardinal James Francis McIntyre sit patiently on wooden benches inside, crossing themselves and waiting for the bell to strike twelve, while out in the night, three hundred greasers from across town march and sing tribal songs in an ancient language. St. Basil's is McIntyre's personal monstrosity. He recently built it for five million bucks: a harsh structure for puritanical worship, a simple solid excess of concrete, white marble, and black steel."
On the Sunday following the Christmas protest, Antulio Parrilla, a Roman Catholic bishop from Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, joined the Chicano protesters outside St. Basil. According to the Los Angeles Times, the mass was preceded by a parade of more than 60 placard-carrying picketers from the Coalition of Concerned Catholics and was attended by "100 Chicano militants and sympathizers." Bishop Parilla celebrated mass on a vacant lot across Wilshire Boulevard from St. Basil's. Bishop Parrilla was joined in the mass by Father Mark Day, chaplain to Cesar Chavez
César Chávez
César Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers ....
's United Farm Workers
United Farm Workers
The United Farm Workers of America is a labor union created from the merging of two groups, the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee led by Filipino organizer Larry Itliong, and the National Farm Workers Association led by César Chávez...
, and Father William Davis, a Jesuit missionary from New York. The three, dressed in white surplices, "conducted mass on a rough wooden table which served as an altar." In his homily, Bishop Parrilla spoke against the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, referring to young men who were imprisoned as conscientious objectors as "political prisoners." He added, "I am totally in support of the Chicano cause."
As Bishop Parrilla delivered his Mass outside, the regular Sunday Masses proceeded inside St. Basil's church. A spokesman from the archdiocese addressed the parishioners before the masses and referred to the protesters as an "articulate, professionally organized minority" and as "militant revolutionaries."
In early January 1970, the protesters, described by the Los Angeles Times as "50 Chicanos and sympathizers," began a fast outside St. Basil's. Richard Cruz, one of the protest leaders, told the Times: "We, Catolicos por la Raza, have chosen to begin the year 1970 by a public fast at St. Basil's to demonstrate our convections to our people, the Chicano and to our Catholic brothers whose support we seek in our struggle with the hierarchy of the Church." Cruz added that the protesters would "not allow the hierarchy or their army, under the guise of law enforcement officers, to disrupt our demonstrations of faith." The fast ended after three days with 75 Chicanos and supporters attending a Mass, and being welcomed, at St. Basil's.
In May 1970, 15 individuals involved in the Christmas protests were put on trial of various misdemeanor offenses. Eleven of the individuals were convicted. In June 1970, Judge David Aisenson sentenced two of the protest leaders to jail sentences of 60 and 90 days. At the time of sentencing, the Judge told the defendants, "Government by blow horn and tantrum will not be tolerated."
The protests at St. Basil's continued into the fall of 1970. In September 1970, a group of Chicano protesters gathered at St. Basil's for an outdoor religious service on the church steps in which the participants burned their baptism certificates. The act was intended as "an expression of frustration in dealing with church authorities in discussing Mexican-American problems." On viewing the Sunday protest, one woman parishioner was heard saying, "Why doesn't someone push them (the demonstrators) down the steps!" However, the protest was peaceful and without violence.
Architecture
St. Basil Church was designed by the architectural firm of A.C. Martin & Assoc.Albert C. Martin, Sr.
Albert Carey Martin was an American architect and engineer.He founded the architectural firm of Albert C...
The building is a combination of 12 angular, adjacent concrete towers, each 80 feet (24.4 m) high, separated by full-length, irregular shafts of stained glass. The concrete towers are irregularly designed -- some thicker at the top than at the bottom, others tapering from the bottom up, and some perpendicular. The church spire is 160 feet (48.8 m) high and the cross at the top rises another 20 feet (6.1 m) above the spire.
Albert C. Martin told the Los Angeles Times in 1967 that "the fortress-like composition of towers was suggested by 3rd and 4th century Christian church design and features of early monastic buildings." Martin's firm described the design concept as "a marriage of early Christian with contemporary to recall the time when the church often served as a place of refuge. It is devoid of external embellishments as early churches were, but it is not a carbon copy of early churches. It at one time retains the feeling of the past and present."
Los Angeles Times religion editor Dan L. Thrapp described the concept in June 1969 as follows:
"The church is patterned after a third century Roman basilica with massive concrete towers in a seemingly random placement, but well organized so that the sanctuary, lighted through the shafts of three-dimensional colored glass windows, can seat 900 in stylish comfort."
The construction of the church required more than 9,000 cubic yards of concrete, and the walls were "bush‐hammered to create a rough texture and expose the color of the aggregate."
The interior of the church has seating for 900 persons. A 13th Century crucifix is suspended above the altar, and contemporary sculpture and artwork also adorns the interior. Sculptor Claire Falkenstein
Claire Falkenstein
Claire Falkenstein was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, jewelry designer, and teacher, most renowned for her often large-scale abstract metal and glass public sculptures.-Early life and education:...
created the stained glass windows as well as the doors and gates. This project is considered by many to be her finest work.
Architect Richard Dorman defended the design against critics who attacked the extravagance of the structure. Dorman told the Los Angeles Times in November 1969 that the church has to make a positive statement with its architecture from time to time and praised St. Basil's as such a statement. Dorman noted, "You make a list of the 25 best buildings in Los Angeles, and St. Basil's would be on it -- in anyone's list."
In February 1973, St. Basil received an Award of Merit from the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
for "excellence in design and execution."