Holy Redeemer

25 N. Rosa Parks Way http://www.holyredeemerpdx.org/

My adventure of visiting every Catholic church in Portland continues. However, in a way it has not fully started since each church in this blog thus far I had been to before. When I start visiting churches I have never been to before, such as the Church of the Korean Martyrs or St. Irene Byzantine Church, it should get more interesting.

Today I went to the 10 am Mass. This is a mostly white parish located in a mixed race , lower middle class neighborhood . It has a school adjoining the church and consequently there are lots of families with young children who attend here. There is also a Spanish Mass said at 12 noon on Sundays. I have been to that before and while it is fun to experience Mass in a different language (my Spanish is so so), doing so exacerbates feelings of not belonging.

The church has a brick facade and two bell towers. There is also an attractive white rectory next to the church. The inside of the church was remodeled recently and looks wonderful. It has golden yellow walls, gold trim and a royal blue ceiling. Also the parish recently installed a large baptismal fount at the back of the church. (Father Joe, who has since moved on, used to delight in dunking the babies in the new fount.)

The church was first built in 1906 by the Redemptorists, a religious order. Hence the name Holy Redeemer. The present building dates from 1926. About 5 years ago, the Redemptorists were apparently downsizing and priests from the Congregation of Holy Cross took over the parish. They are the same order that runs University of Portland and Notre Dame University.