It’s been more than a decade in the making.
Parishioners of Our Lady of Soledad Catholic Church in the city of Coachella will soon see their offerings materialize into a new church that will accommodate 1,200 people — nearly double the amount their current church can hold. The new parish, which is less than a mile away, will be dedicated Dec. 7. It cost about $6.5 million to build the new church, which has been in the planning stages since 2007.
The Rev. Guy Wilson, pastor of Lady of Soledad, sees the church serving as a hub for the residents and interfaith groups in the growing Coachella region. He envisions hosting forums during election season and events for nearby churches that are not just Catholic.
The parishioners, he said, have shown immense dedication to see this space through.
“It’s been a sacrifice,” said Wilson.
Wilson estimates about 85% of Coachella’s 45,000-plus residents are Catholic. In an 18-year span, the city has grown by 22,911 residents and is largely working-class and Latino.
Although the Catholic Church has seen a decline in membership in recent years, the Diocese of San Bernardino — which serves Riverside and San Bernardino counties — has experienced continuous growth. The diocese in 2014 reported 1.5 million Catholics; today it’s grown to 1.7 million, said John Andrews, spokesman for the diocese.
Our Lady of Soledad hosts seven Masses Saturdays and Sundays. It baptizes about 40 infants every month. The church also has four missions, primarily in farmworker communities. Mass at the church fills up and some people have to tune in from a hall through video and a sound system.
“It just keeps growing,” said Wilson, who has been with Our Lady of Soledad since 2012.
Most recently, the church also welcomed a number of Central American migrants seeking asylum.
Full story at religionnews.com.
Lots of unclarity. New parish or new church building for the existing and continuing parish. 23,000 growth over eighteen years. What time period and what ending population? !.7 million Catholics. What is total population of both counties?
For us bean counters, this obscures the main point of the article which is . . . ??
What’s the uniform?
Pity he couldn’t have dressed like a priest for the photo.
Janet, what you don’t seem to understand is the traditional Catholic church/religion no longer exists. So he (whoever/whatever he is) can wear whatever he thinks is relevant.
Sadly that also applies to the way many priests celebrate Mass and runs their parishes. Cut a corner here and there, bring in a hoard of “eucharistic ministers”, altar girls, little opportunities for confession, social justice everything, gay friendly, the list goes on. Catholics of Coachella would do better to drive the distance to a Latin Mass where such things don’t happen.
Absolutely
The Traditional Catholic Church isn’t limited to what the Council of Trent said. The Traditional Catholic Church started with Jesus Christ and the Apostles, who didn’t wear special garb. The ESSENCE of the Catholic Church is the Eucharist, which was first celebrated by Christ Himself and the essence of that first Eucharist is exactly the same today as it was the night before He died. The essential elements of the Eucharist remain, the externals, like language, vestments or clothing, what direction the Priest faces, the music, incense and the rest have changed over the centuries. Priests in Concentration Camps in Germany celebrated Mass, sometimes laying on their backs because they were incapable of standing up. Their own chest was the altar and they had just a scrap of bread and a tiny sip of wine. It’s the same Eucharist as when the Holy Father Celebrates Mass in Latin or the language of the people in a great and beautiful Cathedral.
I love the beauty and dignity of Mass at St. Peter’s in Rome, celebrated in Latin with incense and beautiful vestments, sung parts of the Mass, the dignity of the ceremonies and the reverence of both Priest and people. But to say that the Eucharist is dead if celebrated very simply without the “traditions” of Trent is simply ignorant and heretical.