Co-Authored By Father Vincent Woo And Jacek Nowicki
St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and needs no introduction. His presence seems natural wherever Irish Catholics are found. But how did it come about that St. Patrick is venerated as the co-patron of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, alongside St. Francis of Assisi? The short answer: Irish Catholics, Irish priests and Irish archbishops.
Since California joined the United States in 1850, immigrants from Ireland have made up a large part of the Catholic population. For many decades, until the 1970s, Ireland exported a significant number of priestly vocations to San Francisco. Examples include clergy such as the late Bishop Patrick J. McGrath and Father John Ryan of St. Catherine Church in Burlingame, who were recruited from Irish seminaries to serve in the Archdiocese of San Francisco after ordination. With the influx of Irish immigrants and clergy, St. Patrick quickly became a prominent saint in the archdiocese. However, he did not become co-patron overnight.
The Spanish-born Archbishop Joseph Alemany maintained a careful balance among the faithful of different ethnicities in the archdiocese. Under Archbishop Alemany, the feast of St. Patrick was observed in San Francisco, but it was by no means a high-ranking feast. Things were quite different, however, in the Diocese of Grass Valley (the predecessor of the Diocese of Sacramento). The first bishop of Grass Valley, Bishop Eugene O’Connell, was Irish. He obtained permission from Rome to celebrate St. Patrick’s feast solemnly, with an octave, in his diocese.
Matters changed under Archbishop Patrick William Riordan, who was of Irish origin. It was clear that Irish Catholics in San Francisco were celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with feasting during Lent as if they were still living in Ireland. We must remember that the Lenten fasting discipline before Vatican II was very stringent: every day of Lent was a day of fasting. In light of this, Archbishop Riordan requested a special indult from Rome to exempt the faithful of the archdiocese from fasting on St. Patrick’s Day so that Irish immigrants could celebrate as they did in their homeland. This request was granted for a period of 10 years in 1888 and was extended in 1899.
In 1898, at the inauguration of the new archdiocesan seminary in Menlo Park, Archbishop Riordan explained the patronage of St. Patrick in these words: “I have placed this work under the patronage of a great apostle, St. Patrick, not indeed for personal reasons, but because he is the patron saint of a great Catholic race which has suffered more than any other for religion’s sake — the most devoted, the most generous and most priest-loving race within the fold of the Church of Christ.”
In 1901, at the request of the clergy — who were predominantly Irish — and the faithful of the archdiocese, Archbishop Riordan petitioned Rome for permission to observe St. Patrick’s Day as a first-class duplex (roughly equivalent to a solemnity in the current calendar), as was already the case in the Diocese of Sacramento. Rome was eventually persuaded by the argument that the large Irish community in the archdiocese was accustomed to the special observance of St. Patrick’s Day in their homeland, including festive celebrations. The request was ultimately granted.
The third archbishop of San Francisco, Edward Joseph Hanna, was also of Irish origin. With the support of the archdiocesan clergy, who were still largely Irish, Archbishop Hanna requested the canonical establishment of St. Patrick, together with St. Francis, as co-patrons of the archdiocese. On June 9, 1920, the Holy See approved this request, recognizing St. Francis and St. Patrick as equal principal co-patrons of the archdiocese. After Vatican II, St. Patrick’s Day has been observed as a solemnity in the archdiocese.
Although the demographics of the archdiocese have changed in recent decades and Irish Catholics no longer predominate as they once did, the seminary in Menlo Park and the two churches named after St. Patrick in San Francisco and Larkspur remain reminders of the strong Irish legacy in the archdiocese.
As we approach St. Patrick’s Day this year, while enjoying corned beef and cabbage, let us celebrate within the proper context of Lenten discipline: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Let us not forget to thank the Irish clergy who came all the way from Ireland to minister to us. Let us recall the Irish priests who have served our parishes since our childhood and remember those who have died in our prayers. Let us undertake some alternative penance on St. Patrick’s Day, be generous to the poor and perform works of charity.
Father Woo is assistant professor at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, and Nowicki is archivist of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
