Holy Cross

Holy Cross Catholic Church, 527 N. Bowdoin St., Portland

Holy Cross is located one block south of N. Lombard Street near Portsmouth Street.  It is pretty well hidden from view and I am sure most Portlanders have never seen it.  It is just a few blocks from University of Portland.

Father John Wironen, CSC, of The Congregation of
Holy Cross is the pastor.  In Portland, Holy Cross priests staff the Downtown Chapel, Holy Redeemer Church, the University of Portland and Holy Cross Catholic Church.

I went to the 10 am Mass.  Fr. Wironen commented during his homily that each Mass is essentially a different congregation.  The 10 am Mass was well attended with many families with young children. 

It was a day to thank parish volunteers and Fr. Wironen asked each volunteer to stand as his or her volunteer activity was called.  By the end almost half the congregation was standing.  The congregation was about 80% White with the rest roughly an equal mix of Black, Asian and Latino parishioners.

There is a kindergarten through 8th grade school next to the church called Holy Cross School.  This explains the high number of parishioners with young children present during the Mass. 

More than any other I have visited so far, this church had a insular, neighborhood feel, as if it was very unlikely to attract parishioners from outside the immediate geographic area.  Nothing wrong with that per se and hopefully it means that the parish community is a tight-knit one.