September 19, 2005 VOL. 43, NO. 16Oakland, CA

A golden jubilee for St. Bede Parish

By Carrie McClish
Staff writer

Days before St. Bede Parish in Hayward staged its 50th anniversary celebration on Sept. 11, Don LaPlante, a founding member of the parish, couldn’t help but feel the thrill.

“They call us the patriarchs – that is something wonderful,” he said.

“I am certainly happy to still be here and to be a part of this,” added LaPlante’s wife, Barbara. “When we were working so hard to get the church built and the school, you don’t think ahead to 50 years. And now that it is 50 years, you think back and it brings back a lot of memories.”

One of those memories is of the new parish’s first Mass, celebrated in the basement of a rented former farmhouse on Jackson Street on Sept. 4, 1955. The basement was so small that three Masses were held to accommodate more than 400 people, Barbara LaPlante recalled.

The parish later obtained a 10-acre site, a former apricot orchard, on Patrick Avenue to served as its permanent home. To raise funds to build a church, parish house and church hall (which also served as a small gymnasium), Don LaPlante gathered some parishioners, about “122 fellas,” to kick off a major fundraising drive. The men canvassed the neighborhood to seek out local Catholics who were asked to pledge $11.10 a month. “We started from there,” he said.

Many of the parish’s happy memories center on its long history in CYO (Catholic Youth Organization). The parish declared its support of athletics early on with the construction of the small gym, which has a regulation-size basketball court, as well as a larger gym and a baseball field.

That investment in youth sports gave generations of local youth a place to play. It also helped to form leaders. A good many of the current coaches and assistant coaches in the CYO program went through the program themselves, said Joe Marino, who has served as a coach and athletic director at the parish for more than 40 years. “They came back as adults, which is a pretty good sign. You don’t see that very often,” he said.

Ministry to youth also thrives at the parish school, which opened in 1964. Constance Dalton, principal, said she and the pastor, Father Seamus Farrell, take the school’s status as a parish ministry very seriously.
“Our students attend Mass weekly during school time. Father Seamus celebrates Mass and/or presides over a prayer service in every classroom once a year. We coordinate private Reconciliation in Advent and Lent,” she said.

This fall the school has 265 students, down from a high of 312 in 2000. Changing demographics and finances have taken a toll, said Dalton, principal since 2003. “Many founding families have moved from south Hayward toward Pleasanton, Livermore, etc,” she said. “Finances have been a problem for some.”

In response to these challenges the administration has been working with Catholic School Management “to market our school in the best ways possible,” Dalton said.

The parish also has a busy religious education program that serves about 600 young people. Another 120 youth participate in the Confirmation program.

However, one memory that has left an unwelcome and uncomfortable mark on the parish has been that of founding pastor, Msgr. George Francis, who died in 1998. The priest, who was pastor from 1955 to 1986, was accused of several acts of sexual abuse of minors. Last year the Oakland Diocese agreed to pay a $3 million settlement to a woman who had been abused as a child.

And on March 4, 2004, Oakland Bishop Allen Vigneron apologized directly to those who had been sexually abused by Msgr. Francis during an apology prayer service in the church.

“We are still trying to heal from it,” said Deacon Denis Ryken about the revelations of abuse.
Ryken said he is grateful that there is more awareness now about clergy sex abuse and that the diocese is reaching out to help those who have been hurt.

The parish remains strong and many cite its increasing ethnic diversity as a positive force. Faces depicted in parish directory and memory books over the years have become less European and more Latino, Filipino and African. “Oh yes, we’re a melting pot,” said Gilda Wong, the parish’s new director of religious education.

Wong, a parishioner since the mid-1980s, said the parish now sponsors such devotions as Santo Niño, Simbang Gabi and Our Lady of Guadalupe. There is also an active Cursillo prayer group and daily Eucharistic Adoration.

Parish Timeline

1955: San Francisco Archbishop John J. Mitty created St. Bede Parish in June. He appointed Father (later Msgr.) George Francis, as founding pastor. A vacated farmhouse at 1128 Jackson St. served as temporary home for the new parish during the community’s first two years. Father Francis bought property on Patrick Ave. where construction of the church, parish hall and church hall started in late 1955 at a cost of $300,000.

1957: The church, gym, and baseball field were dedicated in November.

1963: Construction of St. Bede School and convent began.

1964: St. Bede School opened in September with an enrollment of 400 students in the first four grades. One grade would be added each year until the school was complete.

1965: Bishop Floyd L. Begin presided at the blessing and dedication of the new school, staffed by the Holy Names Sisters, on March 14. In September the newly established Moreau High School used three vacant classrooms at St. Bede for their freshmen class.

1970: The parish offered Mass in Spanish for the first time. A monthly Spanish-language Mass was added a year later. A weekly Spanish Mass was instituted in 1973 and continues to this day.

1974: The sanctuary of the church was refurbished and the inside of the church was painted.

1976: Bishop Begin blessed and dedicated the new parish center.

1986: After serving for 31 years as pastor Msgr. Francis retired as pastor; Father Seamus Farrell was named to succeed him.

2004: Bishop Allen Vigneron apologized directly to survivors who had been sexually abused by Msgr. Francis during a March 4 apology service.

2005: Bishop Vigneron presided at the parish’s 50th Anniversary Mass on Sept. 11.

Parishioners gather after Mass at St. Bede Church, which was dedicated in November 1957.

Parishioners come up for Communion at the anniversary Mass.

Bishop Allen Vigneron concelebrates Mass with pastor Father Seamus Farrell (center) and Father Dan Cardelli (right).

Hands are outraised in fervent prayer at the Mass.

Parishioners intently join in the prayers of the Mass.

The parish choir offers joyful song.

CHRIS DUFFEY PHOTOS

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