Name of Church Kolbe Academy & Trinity Prep Chapel
Address 2055 Redwood Road, Napa CA 94558
Phone number 707-258-9030
Website www.kolbetrinity.org
Mass times Mondays and Wednesdays, 7:52 a.m.
Confessions By request only.
Names of priests Both are visiting priests who reside elsewhere: Fr. Adam Kotas, parochial vicar at St. Francis Solano Church in Napa; Fr. Robert Castro, chaplain at Napa State Hospital. Fr. Kotas celebrates the Tridentine Mass on Mondays; Fr. Castro a reverent Novus Ordo Mass on Wednesdays. 
Music There is a small student choir; the entire congregation is invited to sing hymns.
Fellow parishioners Kolbe-Trinity students and families, sometimes a few friends of the school.
Parking Plenty.
Additional observations The Kolbe Academy & Trinity Prep chapel has been a labor of love for an orthodox, devout community of Catholics in a diocese which has had a troubled past. The school is located in Northern California, in the diocese of Santa Rosa, which has suffered in past decades from both financial and sex scandals. The school began as Kolbe Academy in 1980. The founders wanted to create a school to offer children an orthodox Catholic education without the sex education curriculum that was often taught in local schools.

Today, Kolbe-Trinity serves 97 students, pre-K through 12th grade, and is a hub of orthodoxy in the area. Many of its teachers have been educated at such orthodox Catholic colleges as Franciscan University in Steubenville, the University of Dallas and Thomas Aquinas College. Teachers and staff take an oath of fidelity to the Magisterium and make a profession of Faith. The school has an active pro-life club, and many of its families are active in sidewalk counseling in front of abortion clinics and participate in 40 Days for Life. The school was approved by Bishop Mark Hurley of Santa Rosa at the time of its founding; its status is currently under review by the new bishop, Robert Vasa. It is housed in a former Baptist church built in the 1960s, which has been renovated to meet the school’s needs.

Much credit goes to the parent volunteers who extensively renovated the chapel to make it a suitable place for Catholic Mass. The altar area has been vastly improved; previously, a black cloth draped behind it covered a glassed-in, submerged baptismal font used by the Baptists for baptism by immersion. The cinder block walls have been texturized, and niches have been added for statues of saints. While the school does not advertise the Mass to the general public, friends of the school are welcome to attend. And, as school tuition only pays for 60 percent of the school’s operating costs, ongoing fundraising is always important. Check the website for upcoming fundraising events (next one is Saturday, February 4, the annual school Mardi Gras).

READER COMMENTS

Posted Friday, February 10, 2012 6:16 AM By St. Christopher
This is significant Catholicism. Wonderful job Fr. Kotas in bringing the graces of the TLM to the school and to attending families, friends, and students. Hopefully B. Vasa will not interfere; in fact, how many TLMs are said in the Santa Rosa Diocese? Perhaps B. Vasa is overly praised for his “orthodoxy” versus merely being a bit more conservative than his awful predecessor. It will pay to keep on eye on this, as the good bishop should openly praise what has been done here.

Posted Friday, February 10, 2012 6:38 AM By Janek
Good news about the TLM being held at the chapel, expose as many YOUNG Roman Catholics as possible to the Traditonal Mass of All Times most are strongly drawn to this form of the Mass, proving it is not just for old fogies.

Posted Friday, February 10, 2012 8:39 AM By VirgoPotens
Let’s be charitable and give Bishop Vasa a chance to settle in before we critique him. I am well connected to good Catholics in the Santa Rosa Diocese and am getting the sense that the Bishop will do some good things for Tradition, but he’s going to put a lot of thought into the whole situation before he pulls the trigger. I want change to happen overnight, too, but I am trying to be patient!

Posted Friday, February 10, 2012 10:03 AM By Larry
I’ve had the privilege of visiting the school and knowing at least one of their instructors. By all indications, It’s a very good institution. There are a number of TLMs offered in the Diocese of Santa Rosa. You can see the list and times in the NorthBay and Wine Country section at the NEARBY MASSES tab of tlmsf.org.

Posted Friday, February 10, 2012 10:42 AM By Peggy
It’s such a breath of “fresh air” to read positive things happening in our Faith. Thank you!!

Posted Friday, February 10, 2012 11:02 AM By sam
Give me a break – this is NOT a Church. It is precisely what you write it is – a Chapel for a specific & limited use. It is NOT a Church. A Church is open for many uses and unlimited. Quite knocking Bishops and quit referring to yourselves as “orthodox” because IF you truly are “orthodox” then you are NOT in union w/Rome. Because that’s precisely what the “Orthodox Church” means – their rejection of the supremacy of the Pope of Rome. Why don’t you people on this site and the website itself, learn about the faith instead of criticizing others who are following the Holy Father’s wishes. And He has said that “no one, including a bishop, may criticize a bishop in public, except himself, the Pope.”

Posted Friday, February 10, 2012 3:29 PM By Carol
To Sam and Virgo Potens I’m confused how pointing out that the school is under review by Bishop Vassa is any way a critizism of him. Maybe they just do that from time to time. I’m sure Bishop Vasa is a fine man and I think the two of you are reading into what is said too much. And Sam, in a very real sense, a church is where they say mass and a parish is more of what you describe.

Posted Friday, February 10, 2012 5:15 PM By Maryanne Leonard
Sam, goodness me, I wasn’t aware of that but often wondered how it was that so many people felt so free to criticize specific bishops in public. I classify California Catholic Daily’s website as a public forum and am curious as to whether others were aware of this papal pronouncement. I wonder if you could tell us where to find the specific papal statement(s) regarding this subject.

Posted Friday, February 10, 2012 5:18 PM By Andrew
My gosh, some of you people are so silly. First off, there’s nothing in this article that criticizes Bishop Vasa. It says 1) the diocese has a troubled past, meaning before Vasa arrived, when a previous bishop, Patrick Ziemann, grossly mismanaged diocesan funds and resigned after a sex scandal with a priest (and, contact the school leadership, and you’ll learn that Vasa is reviewing the school to determine if, indeed, it should be called a “Catholic” school), 2) no, this is not a parish church, but a house of worship we can loosely call a “church” for purposes of the “Churches Worth Driving To” column, and 3) the last generation or two has seen a slew of Catholic clergy, religious, lay people and institutions voice beliefs contrary to the historical teachings of the Catholic Church. Hence, a quick way to designate if such a person or institution is in line with Catholic teaching is to use the word “orthodox”. And, generally, I would be careful about criticizing the leadership of the Church. However, when gross failings are obvious, it is certainly warranted, although one should criticize regretfully. Cardinal Law’s handling of the sex abuse scandals of his priests that came out a decade ago is a great example. Former Bishop of Milwaukee Rembert Weakland is another. I mean, my goodness, he used diocesan funds to pay hush money to a former male lover…we can’t openly object to that? And, Ziemann’s behavior was certainly shameful. Finally, Kolbe-Trinity has a weekly Tridentine Mass…I would think you “what, no Tridentine Mass?!” readers would love this place.

Posted Friday, February 10, 2012 7:15 PM By JLS
Angelo, 45 years is just the beginning of your life.

Posted Friday, February 10, 2012 9:12 PM By Traditional Angelo
sam, You are a perfect example of what makes this site great. We need reactionaries for the purpose of our defending the faith. Without those in error this site would serve no purpose. Don’t put your own words in the Pope’s mouth, you know he never said that. On the Contrary Bl. John Paul ll said many times that when our Bishops are leading the faithful astray, We Catholics have “the right, even at times the obligation to make ones concerns known for the good of the Church.” Those were his words not merely what I wished he would have said. And I’m glad he said them. As for being Orthodox the Church at Mass prays for us daily, “for all who are orthodox in belief and who profess the catholic and apostolic faith.” This from the Canon of the Mass. sam, don’t leave us, we want you on a platter!

Posted Saturday, February 11, 2012 10:03 PM By JLS
I would venture to explain “sam” in that this chapel is in Napa County, one of the leading wine growing/making regions on the planet, with free wine guzzling … I mean, tasting at over a dozen wineries, not counting dozens more in the other adjoining counties. “sam” no doubt rounded out his day in those elysian fields overflowing with ambrosia, and then spent a few hours composting … I mean composing his regal post.

Posted Sunday, February 12, 2012 9:21 PM By Wm Hamilton
Sam — ‘orthodox’ with a lower-case ‘O’ — as opposed to heterodox. Not a reference to the Eastern churches.