Name of Church St. Catherine of Siena

Address 25181 E. Broadway Ave., Veneta OR 97487

Phone number (541) 935-3933

Website www.stcveneta.com

Mass times Saturday vigil 5:30 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m.; noon (Latin Tridentine).  Wednesdays – Fridays, 9 a.m.  Mondays & Tuesdays, Liturgy of the Word or morning prayer with Communion.  Holy days, vigil, 7 p.m., 9 a.m. & 7 p.m. (Latin)

Confessions 4:30-5 p.m.

Names of priests Father Mike Morrissey, pastor.

School No.

Special events Monday rosary 9 a.m., Liturgy of the Hours Monday – Friday 8:30 a.m.

Special parish groups Altar Society, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Ministry to the Homebound; the parish also has an annual beef BBQ that is well attended, and many other social activities.

Fellow parishioners The parish serves about 150 families in the area.

Additional observations  Veneta is a small community west of Eugene, Oregon.  St. Catherine of Siena Parish was founded in 1955.  The parish says of itself: “We are the only Catholic church in the Veneta-Elmira area under the direction of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon [Alexander Sample].  We are in the full communion of the Catholic Church under Pope Francis, the Roman Pontiff.”  The description is prompted by St. Thomas Becket Church, a beautiful mission church located a few minutes away served by three priests of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX).  (Southern California traditionalists may remember Father Harry Marchosky; he is buried in the St. Thomas Becket cemetery.)

When Rome’s talks with the SSPX under Pope Benedict failed to produce a reconciliation, Father  Morrissey and the parish council agreed to have one of the two Sunday Masses be Latin Tridentine.  Father initially brought in a priest from northern California to celebrate the Mass but has since learned to celebrate it himself.  In doing so, he acknowledged that many pastors and bishops had not done enough to make the Tridentine Mass available to those who wish to participate in it.

Father Morrissey says of the SSPX, however: “A group [SSPX] that ‘cannot and never can accept the teaching of the Catholic Church’ cannot and never can be in the full communion of the Catholic Church.   As long as this remains the attitude of the society there is no hope for a reconciliation because they do not accept the teaching of the Catholic Church.  Therefore, a Mass using the 1962 Missal is now available at St Catherine of Siena in Veneta at noon every Sunday.”