Churches Worth Driving To

Name of Church: San Carlos Cathedral
Address: 500 Church Street, Monterey, CA 93940
Phone number: (831) 373-2628
Website: www.sancarloscathedral.net
Mass times: Saturday vigil, 4 p.m. Sundays, 7:30, 9 & 10:30 a.m., noon, 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7:45 a.m. & 12:15 p.m. 8:15 a.m. rosary follows the morning Mass. Children’s Liturgy of the Word is held at the 9 & 10:30 a.m. Masses.
Confessions: Saturdays, 2:30 – 3 p.m. or by appointment.
Names of priests: Fr. Peter Crivello, rector/pastor. Fr. Patrick Dooling, associate pastor. Fr. Crivello grew up locally. In addition to serving as rector/pastor, he is also vicar general for the diocese. Hence, in addition to working at the parish, he is also immersed in diocesan-wide affairs. Fr. Crivello played an important role in the recent restoration of the old cathedral, including a seismic retrofit and conservation and preservation of the cathedral’s art. Fr. Dooling is a 60-something former pastor who is active at the parish. He is a talented homilist and a popular priest. He writes the weekly column for the parish bulletin (see the blog on the parish website, which is mostly made up of his writings), and does many of the weddings, funerals and sick calls. 
School: Yes, K-8th grade.
Special groups: Catholic Daughters of the Americas, Christians in Commerce, Festa Italia & Italian Catholic Federation, docent society, Knights of Columbus, Legion of Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe Society, St. Joseph’s Society.
Music: The 10:30 a.m. Sunday Mass has a choir; sometimes you’ll see the children’s choir at the 9 a.m. Other Masses might have a cantor accompanied by a musician.
Fellow parishioners: An English-speaking community.
Parking: Ample parking.
Cry room: No.
Additional observations: San Carlos is one of California’s historic churches. It was founded as a mission by Fr. Junipero Serra in 1770. The mission was moved a year later to Carmel, but the church remained as a chapel for soldiers of the Monterey presidio. The current sandstone church was completed in 1794. It is the oldest continuously functioning church in California as well as the state’s first stone church. It is a beautiful church, built in the Spanish colonial style. It was elevated to the status of a cathedral in 1849. It was dedicated as a national landmark in 1961. Herbert Hoover, who would later become President of the United States, was married there in 1899. (Hoover was Protestant, but since there was no minister available at the time, the parish priest was given a special dispensation to perform a civil ceremony.) There is a Heritage Center on-site, which is staffed by docents. The docents can take you on a tour, showing you the historic buildings, beautiful grounds, artifacts and old photos. Hours of the docents’ Heritage Center (subject to change) are Fridays 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and Sundays, 1 – 3 p.m. The beach is just a few blocks away, so take a stroll over and enjoy the ocean afterwards.

READER COMMENTS

Posted Friday, March 23, 2012 4:39 AM By Matthew
This place has one of the most profoundly stupid accouterments I have ever witnessed in a Catholic cathedral. The tabernacle (which can be seen in the photo) is at the rear center of the tiny sanctuary. Nice. Unfortunately it’s flanked by frosted glass shutters (think of a tiny version of saloon front door shutters in old western movies.) They almost look like some sort of salad bar sneeze guard attachment. They are closed to hide the tabernacle during the celebration of the Mass so as not to “confuse” (per Rev. Peter Crivello) those in attendance. I couldn’t believe my eyes or my ears when he told me that. I appreciate the history of this building but the Diocese of Monterey needs a real Cathedral. Something that will hold more than 200-300 people.

Posted Friday, March 23, 2012 6:15 AM By St. Christopher
Visitors to this wonderful church will not see the living history it represents. The Church was built to bring the Faith to CA, and to its local inhabitants, as well as future citizens. The Faith, expressed in the form of the Latin Mass, should be there now, continuing as testimony to its eternal nature.

Posted Friday, March 23, 2012 6:31 AM By MacDonald
I had NO IDEA this kind of thing was possilbe: “Herbert Hoover, who would later become President of the United States, was married there in 1899. (Hoover was Protestant, but since there was no minister available at the time, the parish priest was given a special dispensation to perform a civil ceremony.)”

Posted Friday, March 23, 2012 8:47 AM By Ygnacia
As the oldest functioning church in California, it is a real shame that the Cathedral wasn’t restored to it’s original, historic design.

Posted Friday, March 23, 2012 9:16 AM By Maryanne Leonard
Herbert Hoover had been raised a Quaker by his family in Iowa, but was not practicing this religion when he married the wonderful Lou Henry. My husband and I were married on the a massive historical redwood ranch, Rancho Del Oso in Davenport, just north of Santa Cruz, owned by “Uncle Bert” and his brother, Ted (Theodore). The ranch is still in the family, to which I am not-that-distantly related, though portions are now a state beach and park. Herbert Hoover’s presidential legacy, rather tarnished by the Depression, is now being reexamined by historians and pundits and, not unlike President Truman’s, found more worthy of praise with every passing year since his death. His personal legacy has always been sterling and his family greatly respected in the area he and Aunt Lou, world travelers, loved most, the rugged and historic Pacific coastal region of California’s Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.

Posted Friday, March 23, 2012 12:48 PM By Matthew
I wanted to correct St. Christopher’s comment: “The Church was built to bring the Faith to CA, and to its local inhabitants, as well as future citizens.” No, not in this case. This cathedral was originally the presidio (military installation) chapel. It was not a Califonia Mission.