Stanislaus County

All Saints University Parish, Turlock
Whether you are a Stan State student, a member of Stan State's faculty & staff, visiting the University, or a resident of Turlock and surrounding communities, All Saints University Parish invite you to celebrate with them and get involved in their Catholic community.

Holy Family, Modesto
In January 2006, the Most Reverend Stephen E. Blaire, Bishop, announced that a new parish would be established in the Modesto and Salida area. This new parish would be defined by the following boundaries: Standiford-Sylvan on the South, Toomes Rd on the West, the Stanislaus River on the North, and Coffee Rd. on the East.  In 2014 Holy Family procured a Use permit and began plans to build their future home on Tully and Bangs.

Our Lady of the Assumption of the Portuguese, Turlock
In 1972, an enthusiastic group of young adults and their families bought five acres at 2602 S. Walnut Road in Turlock to establish the Portuguese Cultural Center.  Fathers Jose Carlos and Ivo Rocha were their mentors.  In 1973, a small church was built.  The Most Reverend Merlin Guilfoyle, Bishop of Stockton, dedicated the church and granted faculties to the chaplains.
 
Our Lady of Fatima, Modesto
First Masses in the new parish were in a dance hall called the Sylvan Clubhouse.  That was October 1951.  Bishop Hugh Donohoe, Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco, dedicated a new and very modern church in April 1954.

Sacred Heart, Patterson
Sacred Heart was established in 1917 as a mission of St. Joachim's, Newman.  It became a parish in 1925.  The present church was dedicated in 1949.  Newer features include stain-glass windows and a memorial to unborn victims of abortion, built by the Rose Council Knights of Columbus in 1999.

Sacred Heart, Turlock
In 1888, the mostly Irish Catholic community in Turlock built a wooded church for $2,500.  They were then a mission of St. Stanislaus Parish in Modesto.  Pastor Father Manuel Alvernaz and Father Francis Prendergast worked with the parishoners in 1969 to build the present church, dedicated in May 1972.

St. Anthony, Hughson
In January 1918 Father James Delahunty celebrated the first Mass in Hughson.  Early in 1920 Father James Galvin rented Northway's Hall in Hughson for Sunday Masses and a Sunday school.  This generated enough enthusiasm among residents that they began planning for a church.  The mostly Portuguese community pledged enough money for a new church, where Mass was celebrated on Christmas Day, 1921.  The present church and parish building were constructed in 1967.

St. Frances of Rome, Riverbank
When the Riverbank Methodist Church relocated in 1912, the few Catholics bought its old building for a place of worship.  First called St. Patrick's, the community was a mission of St. Mary's in Oakdale until 1953.  Then it became a parish.  In February 2000, Bishop Stephen Blaire blessed and dedicated a new parish center, complete with 8 classrooms, kitchen, two offices and a hall.  A remodeling of the 1950 church doubled its capacity.  It was rededicated on November 4, 2001.

St. Joachim, Newman
Newman's Catholic community was designated a mission of St. Stanislaus in 1905.  By 1909, St. Joachim's was a parish.  The original church lasted more than half a century, but eventually the community outgrew it.  A new church was built and dedicated in 1960.

St. Joseph, Modesto
When Bishop Merlin Guilfoyle blessed the new St. Joseph's Church, this community had come a long way since celebrating its first Mass at Pappy's Pizza Parlor on Oakdale Road in 1967.  On Christmas Eve 1969, parishioners celebrated Mass in a beautiful multipurpose building that would eventually be their church.  By 1986, the renovated multipurpose building was an inspiring new house of worship.  In the early 2000s, the parish saw a large increase in new parishioners due to the expolsive growth of Modesto.

St. Jude, Ceres
Before 1921, Catholics living in the Ceres area belonged to St. Stanislaus in Modesto, then to the new St. Anthony's in Hughson.  They became a mission of St. Anthony's when they started celebrating Mass in the American Legion Hall.  Bishop Merlin Guilfoyle dedicated St. Jude's first church in 1953.  The community became a parish in 1962, as soon as the Diocese of Stockton was formed.

St. Mary, Oakdale
The first Mass in Oakdale was said in 1874 at the Oakdale Hotel.  St. Mary's was declared a parish in 1902.  Following a fire which destroyed the old church, parishioners broke ground for a new church in 1952 in a location on the West side of town, a traditional California Mission revival building, with Moorish influences.

St. Stanislaus, Modesto
St. Stanislaus started as a small frame church that was origianlly a mission of St. Mary's, Stockton.  St. Stanislaus was established as an official parish in 1881, making it the valley's second oldest parish.   

St. Louis Mission, La Grange 
Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos, Salida
Immaculate Heart of Mary Mission, Crows Landing