Tim Fang is a digital producer at CBS Bay Area. A Bay Area native, Tim has been a part of the CBS Bay Area newsroom for more than two decades and joined the digital staff in 2006.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland announced that more than a dozen churches in the East Bay will be closing amid ongoing financial woes.
In a statement posted Wednesday, Bishop Michael Barber said 12 parish sites would be closing, along with a pastoral center. Seven of the churches are in the city of Oakland, while the remaining closures involve churches in Alameda, Castro Valley, Crockett, Fremont and Walnut Creek.
List of Diocese of Oakland church closures:
- 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
The diocese said closures were part of the Mission Alignment Process (MAP), which began in 2021 and looked at parish data which found where parishes were struggling the most.
Barber cited trends in declining Mass attendance, participation in the sacraments and Catholic school enrollment that began in the early 2010s. The bishop also noted that the diocese had an "all time low" of priests assigned to its 80 parishes.
"While many of our parishes were built to serve the Catholic Church of 1965, we now have far fewer priests and parishioners. Not all parishes can afford to pay for a support staff to fully serve the parish and our missionary aspirations. Others are surviving on rental of parish parking lots or empty school facilities," Barber said. "The status quo is not sustainable nor is it serving God's people."
The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023 as it was facing hundreds of lawsuits over alleged sexual abuse by priests going back decades.
Barber said in his message Wednesday, "As you know, we are currently seeking bankruptcy court approval of our proposed plan of reorganization. Regardless of that outcome, we must face the realities described above and proceed with these closures."
Last week, an Alameda County jury ordered the diocese to pay $16 million in a lawsuit involving a survivor.
According to a FAQ on the diocesan website, the timeline for the closures will be unique to each site. As for staff at the affected parishes, the diocese said efforts will be made to assist them in finding new work.
The diocese serves an estimated 550,000 Catholics in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, along with 45,000 students at diocesan-run schools.