Name of Church Ss. Simon & Jude Cathedral
Address 6351 North 27th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85017
Phone number (602) 242-1300
Website www.simonjude.org
Mass times Saturday vigil, 4:30 p.m. Sunday, 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. (Spanish), 7 p.m. (Spanish). Monday – Friday, 6:15 a.m., 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. with devotions. Saturday, 8:30 a.m. (9 a.m. Sunday Mass televised on cable and broadcast on the radio; visit the website for more information)
Confessions Tuesdays, 5 – 6 p.m., Saturdays, 9-11 a.m. and by appointment.
Names of priests Fr. John Lankeit, rector. Fr. Luis Gonzalez, parochial vicar. Fr. Kurt Perera, Fr. Ernesto Reynoso, Fr. Jaya Rao Maddu, in residence. As the diocesan Cathedral, it is overseen by the Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix, Thomas Olmsted. Fr. Lankeit is a faithful Catholic priest; he’s encouraged his parishioners to receive the Blessed Sacrament on the tongue, for example, and, in 2011, instituted a male-only altar server program to encourage vocations to the priesthood. Decide for yourself; listen to his homilies on the parish website. He also recently released a DVD series on the Mass which you can purchase in the Cathedral gift shop. Bishop Olmsted is well known for his orthodoxy; he’s in residence at the Cathedral.
Music Choirs and ensembles who sing in both English and Spanish.
Fellow parishioners Although predominantly English-speaking, there is a significant and growing Hispanic population.
Parish groups and activities Knights of Columbus, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Legion of Mary, Cursillo, sports leagues and prayer groups. They also have a perpetual Eucharistic adoration chapel in the narthex open daily (you must be scheduled for nighttime hours).
Parking There is a large lot behind the church.
School Yes. Pre-K through 8th grade.
Additional observations Ss. Simon & Jude was established as a parish in 1953. Its pastor was an Irish priest; Loreto Sisters staffed the parish school (and still serve the parish today). The current church was built 1965-66, and dedicated in 1966. It became a cathedral when the diocese was formed in 1969. Its most famous visitors have included Pope John Paul II (in 1987) and Mother Teresa (1989). It’s a red brick building with a large white marble altar and baldacchino (altar canopy). There is a Cathedral bookstore open daily. The Knights of Columbus recently dedicated a memorial to the unborn on the parish grounds.
Olmsted seems like a fine bishop. The rector there sounds pretty good, too.
I agree Carol. This one ill keep in mind too to visit when i take a drive that area.
The parish people and clergy do their best with the vast, box-like (just stating facts) space, and the new clergy leadership developed by Bp. Olmsted is outstanding. It is a very friendly parish, but it only has the Novus Ordo Mass, of course.
As noted, the present church dates from 1966, and just reflects some of the rather harsh, sharply modern “Collegeville, MN” architecture of that era (it has a sister church, identical in layout and architecture, Most Holy Trinity of Phoenix,AZ, on N 7th St).
In Phoenix, what you see was a turning-away from the warmly beautiful Southwest Mission architecture after about 1960-1965 (see for example, by constrast, the last traditional church built in this style, St. Thomas the…
1965 (see for example, by contrast, the last traditional church built in this style, St. Thomas the Apostle:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3591/3552641090_a69559d890_z.jpg
..and simultaneous with the overly optimistic “New Church” of Vatican II, some pretty ghastly monstrosities. St. Simon and Jude is not one of those, and some sensus catolicus was still retained in its building and design.
St Jerome’s Catholic Church,Phoenix is an example of the turn-for-the-worse after V2:
https://s3-media2.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/CgsQCZe84GXjgTd-PtM6kg/o.jpg
..or here is St. Vincent’s Catholic Church, Phoenix — looks like an insurance agent’s office:
https://www.modernphoenix.net/churches/images/stvincent/stvincent_08_06.jpg
Interestingly, many of these parishes has any information about their history, their founding, the year the church was built, their predecessor . A New Church with No History.
Sadly no Traditional Latin Mass, which surprises me Bishop Olmsted is not a liberal nor a traditionalist, but is TLM friendly hope he has a regular TLM soon.