Name of Church Sacred Heart Church
Address 43-775 Deep Canyon Road, Palm Desert, CA 92260
Phone number (760) 346-6502
Website https://church.sacredheartpalmdesert.com/
Mass times Saturday vigil, 4 & 5:30 p.m.; Sunday 6:45 a.m., 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. (Spanish), 2:30 p.m. (Latin Tridentine), 5:30 p.m., 7 p.m. (Spanish). Weekdays, 7:45 a.m. 4th Saturday of the month there is a Filipino Mass in Tagalog and English.
Music Depends on the Mass: Sacred Heart Choir, cantor and organ.
Confessions Wednesday and Thursday, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m., Saturday, 3:30 – 4 p.m. and 5 – 5:30 p.m.
Names of priests Fr. Gregory Elder, pastor. Fr. Alwyn Anfone, Fr. Tyler Tripp, parochial vicars. Fr. Marlin Connole, Fr. Thomas Thorne, assisting priests. Fr. Elder is a former Anglican priest and is married with two adult children. He studied theology at Oxford and met his wife while living in England. He taught history and humanities at Moreno Valley College and converted to Roman Catholicism in 2003. He describes himself as conservative theologically and liturgically, although “liberal pastorally” (meaning he likes a “welcoming” parish).
School Yes, pre-K through 8th grade.
Special activities and parish groups Padre Pio adoration chapel, 6 a.m – 2 p.m.; Bible Study with Fr. Gregory on Thursdays at 9 a.m.; Carmelite Seculars; Knights of Columbus; Eucharistic Adoration Ministry; Catholics Returning Home; Dress a Girl Ministry; Kairos Prison; Prolife Group; Rosary Devotion; Sacred Heart Guild; Christians in Commerce; Life in the Spirit Ministry.
Fellow parishioners Mostly English-speaking, but with a significant Hispanic population.
Parking The parking lot is crowded on weekends, but you can park on the street.
Cry room Yes, in the back.
Additional observations Sacred Heart is a parish of the Diocese of San Bernardino, located near Palm Springs. It began in 1956—Bing Crosby hosted a fundraiser in 1956 to fund the construction of a permanent church. It was a favorite of Catholic celebrities; President John F. Kennedy, for example, attended when he’d visit the desert. Much construction and growth has occurred over the past five decades, including the building of a school in 1984. In recent years, six new buildings have been constructed, along with two parking lots and an adoration chapel.
Attended mass here right after Obama was reelected for his second term. The now former pastor scolded all the attendees for being upset about the re-election of Obama and insinuated we were racist because of our dissatisfaction with the election results. That former pastor left the priesthood to marry the church secretary a few years later.
I was surprised to see this listed as a church worth driving to.
Commenter, what surprised you about that?
I remember that the pastor who married had a lot of support from the parish.
And, that was his second “marriage.” That is, indeed, scandalous. Pray that the parish is changing and no longer supporting such. We should give the new priests the benefit of the doubt, so to speak. The Anglicans who find their way to the Catholic Church have all seemed solidly Catholic to me. Or, why would they make the journey, oftentimes a costly one at that?
The parish website shows they have Adoration, Rosary and offer several good ministries.
Jane Wyman was buried out of this church, as a third-order Dominican.
She had a very, very rough childhood. Her conversion to Catholicism
has been an inspiration to me.
According to this article, the Pastor is married. Like so many other, if not most, Pastors of other faiths, it proves that a good pastor can be married and still perform the duties of his office. Requiring priests to be unmarried, in the Latin Rite, isn’t necessary, any more than it is in the Easter Rites.