13 East Bay Catholic churches to shutter due to low attendance, financial woes

Oakland Diocese closing 13 East Bay churches

Churches in Oakland, Alameda, Fremont, Crockett, Walnut Creek and Castro Valley on closure list.

OAKLAND, Calif. - More than a dozen places of worship in the East Bay belonging to the Diocese of Oakland will close due to a lack of parishioners, priests and funds to keep the institutions afloat.

Not enough priests or parishioners

What they're saying:

Bishop Michael Barber said in a statement that the decision to close the 13 churches comes as part of the diocese’s Mission Alignment Process (MAP), which seeks to engage clergy and parishioners "in a process of self-reflection and renewal" by consolidating worshippers from churches with low attendance or staffing to refocus on missionary work.

"We must focus on the activities that foster prayerful celebrations of the Mass, prioritize works of mercy, and form missionary disciples," Barber said. "The status quo is not sustainable nor is it serving God’s people."

The churches being closed are:

• Mary Help of Christians, Oakland
• Our Lady of Guadalupe site at Blacow Road, Fremont
• Our Lady of Lourdes, Oakland
• Sacred Heart, Oakland
• St. Albert the Great, Alameda
• St. Andrew Kim Korean Pastoral Center, Oakland
• St. Augustine, Oakland
• St. Barnabas, Alameda
• St. Paschal Baylon, Oakland
• St. Patrick, Oakland
• St. Rose of Lima, Crockett
• St. Stephen, Walnut Creek
• Transfiguration, Castro Valley

Adapting to new trends

Dig deeper:

Barber said the MAP was undertaken in response to diocesan-wide trends in declining Mass attendance, participation in the sacraments and Catholic school enrollment that began in the early 2010s.

A current all-time low of priests assigned to the Diocese of Oakland’s 80 parishes, coupled with the average age of the priests continuing to climb and several parishes and schools struggling financially, has further spurred the diocese’s need to adapt, Barber said.

"I deeply understand the sacrifice this will require," he said. "We cannot allow nostalgia and sentimentality to hold back the message of the Gospel. While we love our local church building, the church has never been solely a building. The church has always been a people called by God and united in faith. The faith of our people will continue, just in a different place and with new people."

Big picture view:

In addition to waning numbers of parishioners and a dearth of clergy, the Diocese of Oakland has grappled with hundreds of lawsuits alleging clergy members sexually abused children.

The bevy of litigation prompted the diocese to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2023 in order to stave off individual lawsuits and consolidate the claims in a court-supervised process that will ultimately lead to settlements.