San Joaquin

Cathedral of St. Mary of the Annunciation, Stockton
In 1941, as Stockton was growing northwards from Weber Point, Most Reverend John J. Mitty, Archbishop of San Francisco, agreed with local Catholics and clerics that a new church was needed.  Monsignor William E. McGough, its first pastor and its builder, worked with San Francisco architect Henry Minton and Stockton contractors Shepherd and Green to construct an elegant modified-Gothic church, dedicated December 12, 1942.  When the Diocese of Stockton was created in 1962, the new bishop, Hugh A. Donohoe, selected Annunciation as the cathedral because of its capacity and beauty.  Since then it has served the diocese for central liturgical functions as well as continuing as a parish.

Holy Cross, Linden
In 1882, Holy Cross church was designated a mission of St. Joachim's.  Between 1904 and 1962, Holy Cross was a mission of St. Mary's, then of St. Gertrudes, and finally of St. Michaels.  Parishioners built a church in 1883.  It served well until 1953, when the new church was built.  The old frame church, proudly preserved, serves as the church hall.  Holy Cross officially became a parish when the Diocese of Stockton was established.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Lathrop
The parish is located at 16200 Cambridge Dr, Lathrop, CA, 95330.  Rev. Salvador Ledesma is the current Administrator.  Mass is held 3 days per week in English and 4 days per week in Spanish.

Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Stockton
Presentation Parish opened in 1952 with over 200 Catholic families in Lincoln Village, north Stockton.  Father John Quinn said Mass in the old Five Mile House.  By Pentecost of 1953, a church was ready.  On November 7, 1999, Presentation burned, the result of Arson.  A new , modern church building was dedicated November 18, 2001.  Bishop Stephen Blaire voiced its meaning: "There was a fire that was not extinguished.  That was your dedication to the church."

St. Anne, Lodi
St. Anne's began in 1876 in Woodbridge as a mission of St. Mary's Stockton.  The mission was later connected with St. Joachim's, Lockeford.  When St. Anne Parish, Lodi, was established in 1904, the few Catholics in the area were easily accommodated in a little frame church about the size of a classroom.  A larger church was built in 1913, but by the 1950s the influx of Midwesterners and Easterners necessitated a larger house of worship.  Thus a new church was built and dedicated in 1963 by Bishop Hugh Donohoe.

St. Anthony, Manteca
The first Masses in Manteca were held in Cowell's Hall in late 1913 or early 1914.  St. Anthony's became a parish in 1917.  The original church was built in 1916.  The present St. Anthony's church has the distiction of being the first church dedicated in the new Diocese of Stockton in May 1962.

St. Bernadette, Stockton
In August 1955, parishoners of St. Bernadette's Parish were kneeling on the floor of a very modest white clapboard farmhouse, as they celebrated mass with the new founding pastor, Fr. Adrian McKenna.  Within five years they had built a parish hall, rectory, and a school.  The parish suffered a major fire (arson) in November 2000.  An entire wing of the school was destroyed.  It has since been replaced with a beautiful upgraded building.

St. Bernard, Tracy
In 1908, Tracy was made a parish and St. Bernard of Clairvaux was named the patron saint of the newly formed parish.  Tracy was growing rapidly, and in 1911another church with double the capacity of the first one was built.  As Tracy grew, the need was felt for a larger church.  In 1947, the present site was purchased, and in 1950 the present day church was completed.

St. Edward, Stockton
St. Edward was one of the first parishes founded in the Diocese of Stockton.  In 1967 St. Joseph's Hospital needed to remove the Dominican Sisters' chapel.  It went to St. Edward in East Stockton.  Becoming more and more Mexican-American in the 1970s, a growing St. Edward's expanded its religious education, which moved to Elmwood School across the street.  The current parish was dedicated in 1991.

St. George, Stockton
Catholics in the southern part of Stockton collaborated to build St. George, which was dedicated in February 1954.  In January 1970, parishioners living in the French Camp area dedicated the Mission of Good Shepard.  In 1994 St. George's sponsored another mission, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Lathrop.

St. Gertrude, Stockton
St. Gertrude's seperated from St. Mary's of the Assumption in 1913.  The first Mass was said in Fair Oaks community hall.  In 1915, a new church was donated.  In 1971 the Carmelite Fathers undertook the parish.  The parish returned to diocesan care in 1999.

St. Joachim, Lockeford
Pioneering Catholic settlers of northeastern San Joaquin County bought the United Brethren Church of Christ building in Lockeford in 1875.  Archbishop Joseph Alemany blessed it as St. Joachim's Church.  After a December 1980 storm, the building was found unsafe.  The parisioners decided to save their vulnerable church building.  Lots of work was done to the church and it reopened in 1981.  Ten years later, it was decided a new church was needed.  The church was later expanded and reopened. 

St. Linus, Stockton
Southeast Stockton Catholics built St. Linus Church with their own hands, moving in 1957 from the Sierra Vista gymnasium where they had worshiped since 1955.  Many of these same parishioners saw it burn on All Saints Day 1978.  By May 1980 a new church had been built with the help of parishioners, California Youth Authority Chicano wards and the Bonetti and Butorac families.

St. Luke, Stockton
When Archbishop John J. Mitty assigned Father Oisin Moriarty from San Francisco to build a parish in Stockton to be called St. Luke's, it was October 1, 1951.  On Easter 1952, St. Luke's parishioners celebrated Mass in their own church.  The parish grew quickly and it became clear that a larger church ought to be built.  A new church was built and dedicated by Bishop Hugh Donohoe in 1965.

St. Mary of the Assumption, Stockton
St. Mary's of the Assumption, Stockton's "mother church," opened in 1851.  The brick Gothic church finished in 1893 still serves the parish.  On June 1, 1971, the Stockton City Council declared St. Mary's Church Stockton's first Historic Landmark.

St. Michael, Stockton
Early Irish farmers celebrated Mass in local ranch houses till a church was built in 1902.  St. Michael's began as a mission of St. Mary's, then of St. Gertrude's.  Replacing the historic but shaky original structure, St. Michaels dedicated its present church in 1965, serving the Waterloo-Morada area.

St. Patrick, Ripon
The name St. Patrick's was chosen because the congregation was predominantly Irish.  A new church was built in 1946, at which time St. Patrick's was established as a parish.  There have been a number of additions to the parish complex including a hall, classrooms, a shrine to Our Lady of Fatima, and landscaping.

Mission of the Good Shepard, French Camp