About Our Parish
St. Vincent Ferrer Church - 155 years of history
Since its founding in 1855, the parish of St. Vincent Ferrer has stood firm and continued to grow amidst the dangers fire, earthquakes, wars, and plagues. The church was established under the auspices of the Dominican Fathers to address the spiritual and pastoral needs of the thriving Catholic community in Vallejo (due mainly in part to the California Gold Rush in 1848). In the decade that followed, the church transferred from the Archdiocese of San Francisco to the Sacramento diocese. After one hundred and twelve years, leadership changed hands from the Dominican Fathers to the diocesan clergy. Lay people were invited to join the Dominican staff as educators of the children enrolled in the school. An explosion of lay ministry also opened up a lot of opportunities of the laity to increase involvement in the liturgical, pastoral, and administrative life of the parish. At the same time, a growing diversity of people moved into the parish.
In its earlier history, the parish was home to Irish, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and European descents. Over the years, people of African-American, Mexican, Latin-American, Filipino, Tongan, and Guamanian descent have come to this place and now call it home. In the 1980's, the Hispanic Office was opened and to this day continues to expand its service to the growing population of Spanish-speaking residents in the parish. The Filipino population in the parish also continues to rise. In fact, parish statistics show that Filipinos are no longer the minority. A growing Tongan community thrives in the parish though they primarily workshop in the mission church of St. Louis Bertrand in South Vallejo.
In 2005, the parish celebrated its 150th anniversary and has continued to reach out to the local community to "give glory to God and to collaborate in His redeeming activity."
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