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A Catholic Presence in oakland History of our diocese

ABOUT OUR DIOCESE To know Christ better and to make Him better known

We serve Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. The current estimated population of Alameda and Contra Costa counties is over 2.8 million people with a Catholic population estimated at 550,000.

Serving the needs of the faithful in the Diocese are 345 priests, 110 deacons and 455 religious brothers and sisters in 82 parishes, 11 pastoral centers and other diocesan offices. Including religious education programs, there are over 45,000 students under Catholic instruction in the Diocese at 41 elementary schools, 8 high schools, two Catholic colleges and several schools of religious formation.

The Catholic Church throughout the Diocese offers a range of service ministries assisting the elderly, the young, the poor, and the oppressed. As such the Church is the largest provider of social services in the East Bay, delivering shelter, meals, counseling, education and other critical services free of charge to over 530,000 people of all faiths each year.

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Diocese of Oakland

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a catholic presence in oakland

A Catholic presence in what is now the Diocese of Oakland can be traced to March 27, 1772, when Franciscan Father Juan Crespi, traveling with a party of Spanish explorers, celebrated Mass near a swamp that would one day become Lake Merritt in Oakland. A quarter-century later, Franciscan Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen founded Mission San Jose as the 14th of California’s eventual 21 missions. The friars of the mission sought to catechize and educate the Chochenyo, a division of the indigenous Ohlone people who lived throughout the region prior to the arrival of the Spaniards.

Mission San Jose would remain the only Catholic parish on the contra costa, the “opposite coast” from San Francisco, for the next 64 years. Meanwhile, first Spain and then Mexico, which won independence from Spain in 1821, issued land grants to retired soldiers, some of whom built chapels on their ranchos where mission priests would sometimes venture to say Mass. By 1836, Mexico had secularized the California missions and parceled out most of their once-vast grazing lands.

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creation of the oakland diocese

In 1840, the Holy See established the Diocese of the Two Californias, comprising both Baja California and Alta California. Eight years later, just as the gold rush was beginning to draw thousands of fortune-seekers to the West, Mexico ceded California to the United States. California achieved statehood in 1850, and the Holy See established the new Diocese of Monterey, which encompassed the entire state, with Bishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany as founding bishop.

In 1853, the 13 northern counties were split off to form the Archdiocese of San Francisco, with Bishop Joseph Alemany serving as its first archbishop. In 1861, St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Oakland became the second parish in what would later become the Oakland Diocese. Eight years later, St. Paul Church in San Pablo was named the first parish in the present Contra Costa County. The area remained part of the San Francisco Archdiocese until the population growth throughout northern California began to complicate archdiocesan pastoral ministry. So on January 13, 1962, the Holy See carved three new dioceses — Oakland, Santa Rosa, and Stockton — from the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

The new Diocese of Oakland comprised Alameda and Contra Costa counties, an area of 1,467 square miles. At the time of its creation, there were an estimated 329,040 Catholics among the total two-county population of more than 1.3 million people.

Our Diocese Today

Today the Oakland Diocese is comprised of some 550,000 Catholics amid a total population of 2.8 million people. As the Catholic population of the East Bay has grown, so has its diversity. Immigration and new opportunities have drawn Catholics from all parts of the world.

The Diocese of Oakland sponsors numerous cultural centers, and Masses are celebrated regularly in more than a dozen languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Kmhmu, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, and Tagalog. 

Catholic-sponsored service ministries and apostolates have assisted tens of thousands of people in need. Catholic Charities was established in 1934 in the East Bay with the merger of 36 existing Catholic aid agencies.  Since the founding of the Oakland Diocese, Catholic Charities of the East Bay has addressed key social concerns, including refugee resettlement, housing discrimination, counseling, school violence, troubled youth, senior citizens, job training, and emergency services. The St. Vincent de Paul Society and other parish and ecumenical efforts have extended a lifeline to homeless families and others in need through soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters and health care.

Despite challenging demographic shifts and financial realities, the Diocese of Oakland maintains a vibrant presence in Catholic education, a tradition established by many religious orders. Today its 45 elementary schools and nine high schools serve thousands of students, and its colleges and schools of formation boast proud histories of quality education. Though many of these schools are now staffed predominately by lay men and women, the presence of religious men and women, remains strong in Catholic schools, pastoral ministries and social justice outreach.