10029 NE Prescott St.
St. Rita's is the friendliest church I have visited to date. I received several heartfelt smiles from parishioners. Here I was treated as part of the parish rather than a stranger to be feared. Perhaps the church is large enough that I was not recognized as a stranger. Perhaps others' friendliness was more of a reflection of my mood than theirs. Perhaps, but I want to go on record as saying in my whistle stop tour of Portland parishes, this one was the friendliest to-date -- and with only a few more to go! (If my word is not good enough, here is an article about St. Rita's saying the same thing.)
St. Rita's is located just a few block southeast of where NE Sandy Boulevard crosses over I-205. It is near the Maywood Park residential area . At the Mass I attended the parishioners were mostly White but there were good numbers of Asian and Hispanic attendees as well. There were plenty of families with young children but all ages were represented at the service.
Built in 1956, the exterior of the building is red brick and the appearance is modern. There are alternating colored glass skylights in the interior and the ceiling lights have shades shaped like hourglasses made from thin metal sheets, painted green. I initially thought they were from the 1970s but more likely they date from the building's mid-century (modern) construction period.
The church bulletin says "St. Rita Catholic Community" at the top and inside is an announcement of a Parish Retreat in May "focusing on creating and engaging community at St. Rita Parish." The retreat is to be centered "around the theme of belonging -- truly being part of our parish." It would seem that the friendliness I experienced at St. Rita's was not just by happenstance. Who wouldn't want to belong to such a Parish?
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