St. Joseph's Catholic Church (Salem, Oregon)
Encyclopedia
St. Joseph's is the oldest Catholic church in Salem, Oregon
and currently serves some 3,500 families and conducts services in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. The parish school staff has been recognized for excellence in education as recently as 2005.
priest (brother of Archbishop
Thomas Croke
) has been described as "the ubiquitous apostle of Western Oregon".
The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
religious education order
arrived in 1863 and bought the building. It became the Sacred Heart Academy dedicated on August 22, 1863 and opened with 80 students on September 7. A church historian has noted that the then pastor Leopold Dieleman, "threw enough holy water
on the building to put out a fire" and quotes Father Dieleman as saying, "The devil that day had danced his last polka in the building".
The following year St. John Evangelist Church opened on a rise of ground known locally as “Piety Hill”.
In 1873, the sisters completed a new academy building on the corner of Center and Cottage Streets. A new church was erected on the corner of Chemeketa and Cottage Streets and was named St. Joseph Church (per the archdiocese history of Oregon the name change was possibly to avoid confusion with another parish named St. John's ) and opened in 1889.The parish’s current church was dedicated in 1953. A new parish center was completed in 1999.
Salem, Oregon
Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...
and currently serves some 3,500 families and conducts services in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. The parish school staff has been recognized for excellence in education as recently as 2005.
History
St. Joseph's was founded in 1853 when Father James Croke rented a two story building on the corner of Church and Chemeketa streets that had been a Masonic hall. Father Croke, an IrishIrish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
priest (brother of Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
Thomas Croke
Thomas Croke
Thomas William Croke D.D. was the second Catholic Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand and later Archbishop of Cashel and Emly in Ireland...
) has been described as "the ubiquitous apostle of Western Oregon".
The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary is a teaching order founded at Longueuil, Québec, Canada in 1843 by Blessed Mother Marie-Rose for the Christian education of young girls.Their motto is: "Jésus et Marie, Ma Force et Ma Gloire" .Since 1843, the...
religious education order
Roman Catholic religious order
Catholic religious orders are, historically, a category of Catholic religious institutes.Subcategories are canons regular ; monastics ; mendicants Catholic religious orders are, historically, a category of Catholic religious institutes.Subcategories are canons regular (canons and canonesses regular...
arrived in 1863 and bought the building. It became the Sacred Heart Academy dedicated on August 22, 1863 and opened with 80 students on September 7. A church historian has noted that the then pastor Leopold Dieleman, "threw enough holy water
Holy water
Holy water is water that, in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and some other churches, has been sanctified by a priest for the purpose of baptism, the blessing of persons, places, and objects; or as a means of repelling evil.The use for baptism and...
on the building to put out a fire" and quotes Father Dieleman as saying, "The devil that day had danced his last polka in the building".
The following year St. John Evangelist Church opened on a rise of ground known locally as “Piety Hill”.
In 1873, the sisters completed a new academy building on the corner of Center and Cottage Streets. A new church was erected on the corner of Chemeketa and Cottage Streets and was named St. Joseph Church (per the archdiocese history of Oregon the name change was possibly to avoid confusion with another parish named St. John's ) and opened in 1889.The parish’s current church was dedicated in 1953. A new parish center was completed in 1999.