The Struggle

St. Brigid Church St. Brigid Catholic Church at Broadway and Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco was closed, along with eight other San Francisco churches, by a former Archbishop in 1994. The Committee to Save St. Brigid is working to reopen this architectural gem which is the center of our spiritual community.
    The Committee has organized legal appeals, both locally and in the Vatican. Most recently, the high court of the Vatican, the Apostolic Signatura, referred the matter back to San Francisco's new Archbishop, the Most Reverend William J. Levada, for his action. Archbishop Levada is dedicated to the expansion of Catholicism in our community and has reopened four of the churches closed by his predecessor. We are hopeful that he will do the same for St. Brigid.

St. Brigid School students joined in to protest the closure
"Shortly after the closing, over
18,000 San Franciscans signed
petitions asking the Archdiocese
to reopen St. Brigid."

    In addition to its legal work the Committee continues the work of the parish. Even without a church building, St. Brigid remains one of the most active congregations in the Diocese. We provide aid to the homeless, organize Masses Msgr.O'Connor saying Mass for St. Brigid parishioners at Lafayette Park and host social events to maintain the integrity of the parish community.
    The closing of St. Brigid provoked outrage amongst parishioners and friends. Shortly after the closing, over 18,000 San Franciscans signed petitions asking the Archdiocese to reopen St. Brigid. Thousands have written to the Archdiocese and the Vatican asking that St. Brigid be reopened. At the time, there was ample cause for outrage. A secret Archdiocesean planning report uncovered after the closing had fixed the value of the land under St. Brigid and its school at $16.5 million and determined that its "highest and best use" was as "maximum density [condominium] residential housing". At the time, St. Brigid was a vital parish with 17 parish organizations, and was the third largest contributor to the annual Bishop's Archdiocesean Appeal. St. Brigid's cash reserves totaled about $700,000. The money was confiscated by a then troubled and cash-strapped Archdiocese.
    The Archdiocese asked the City of San Francisco to place the church building on its UMB (Unreinforced Masonry Building) list, and estimated that it would take as much as $5.5 million to retrofit the church. Subsequent studies have fixed that figure at as little as $750 thousand, approximately the amount in the parish's reserve accounts at the time of the closing. Other studies have estimated other higher amounts, all within the Committee's capabilities to raise.
    The reasons for reopening St. Brigid are much the same as the ones for not closing it in the first place. The church is and was a big part of the lives of the thousands of people who were its regular parishioners, as it had been for their ancestors. The church and its adjoining school were one institution. Now, with the church shuttered, the parocial education of the students is badly compromised. The building structure, while in need of some work, is inherently sound. The finances of the church reflect its robust good health in other areas. It is and was a very active parish with a strong commitment of service to the community surrounding it and to the City of San Francisco.
    St. Brigid is at the core of the Catholic community in its area. With St. Brigid closed, what remains is a chasm, filled with the heartfelt hopes of thousands for restitution.