Archdiocese of San Francisco history

1855: St Vincent’s School for Boys opens to house, clothe, feed, educate and care for the orphans of California’s Gold Rush.

The present Norman Gothic church, with its elegant twin campanile, was dedicated on 17 March 1860.

By 1884, the Catholic Church was firmly established in San Francisco and northern California.

In the Teamsters' Strike of 1901, Yorke placed the Catholic Church of San Francisco firmly on the side of labor, making impassioned speeches to thousands of workers.

In 1907: Archbishop Patrick William Riordan organized a group of church women to help in the wake of the disaster to plan how best to marshal resources for the care of those children left orphaned and homeless.

By 1909, a more formalized organization, Catholic Humane and Settlement Society, evolved, led by the same group of women.

Archbishop Riordan dedicated it on January 21, 1911.

As an ever growing, loving and caring community, Epiphany became a parish to serve the growing population of the area in 1914.

1919: The Catholic Humane and Settlement Society (to differentiate from the Humane Society) changed its name to Little Children’s Aid.

In 1932, Mitty was named Coadjutor Archbishop of San Francisco and became Archbishop three years later.

1933: Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) starts in San Francisco.

Opening of the school - 1938

In September of 1940, Father Ryan died suddenly after serving Epiphany for eighteen years.

In 1949, construction began to expand the school to accommodate a second class for each grade and to add the convent.

Finally in 1952, Archbishop Mitty opened the new church.

Salvatore J. Cordileone was born in San Diego on June 5, 1956 to Leon and Mary Cordileone, who raised their family in Blessed Sacrament Parish.

Oakland, Santa Rosa, Stockton, and San Jose On January 13, 1962, the Dioceses of Oakland, Santa Rosa and Stockton were established from areas previously part of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

“The cathedral must belong to its own people and place, but also to the world,” wrote Alan Temko, prize-winning architectural critic for the San Francisco Chronicle in 1963. “It must express the oneness of things, as well as their ineffable mystery.”

A series of press conferences, held in 1964, presented the strikingly modern design.

And so by the time the new St Mary’s opened at the end of 1970, it was floating in a tempestuous sea of controversy.

St Mary’s Cathedral opened its marvelous bronze doors in 1971 at a cost of $9 million.

Patrick McCarthy came to Epiphany in 1976.

Archbishop John R. Quinn became the Sixth Archbishop of San Francisco on February 22, 1977, beginning an eventful 18-year tenure marked by attention to major social issues of the day as well as international events.

Salvatore Cordileone graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in Philosophy.

He received an undergraduate degree in Sacred Theology in 1981 from the Pontifical Gregorian University and the following year returned to San Diego to be ordained and begin his first pastoral assignment.

On July 9, 1982, Bishop Leo T. Maher ordained the Reverend Salvatore J. Cordileone.

1985: Catholic Charities is the first responder to the AIDS epidemic, meeting the needs of those affected.

In 1989, and as part of the 75th anniversary of the parish, the pipe organ was replaced and a new organ was installed through a grassroots capital campaign.

Mc Carthy’s years, was appointed by Archbishop John Quinn as the sixth Pastor at Epiphany in 1992.

Implementation of the Pastoral Plan in 1993-95 led to new initiatives, but also was marked by the painful process of closing a dozen parishes.

Following the retirement of Archbishop Quinn on December 27, 1995, he became the seventh Archbishop of San Francisco.

On Sunday, October 28, 2000, more than 32,000 Catholics braved storms and heavy rain conditions to exuberantly join in celebration of the Eucharist with Archbishop William Levada and other clergy.

The present headquarters, as of 2001 of the Archdiocese of San Francisco are located at One Peter Yorke Way, a short street in San Francisco named after Father Peter Yorke, an Irish-American Catholic priest.

At its sesquicentennial in 2003, the archdiocese created this video: Proclaiming the Gospel: A History of the Archdiocese of San Francisco: The First 150 Years, narrated by Joseph Campanella.

In the year 2004, Archbishop William Levada appointed Fr.

In August 2005, the newly-elevated Cardinal Levada left northern California to take up his duties at the Vatican, and San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop John C. Wester was named interim Apostolic Administrator.

On February 15, 2006, the Eighth Archbishop of San Francisco, George H. Niederauer, was installed at a Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral.

His Mass of Installation was celebrated on May 5, 2009, at the Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland.

Father Gregory Coiro, O.F.M.Cap., was appointed the first Capuchin rector by Archbishop George H. Niederauer on July 1, 2010.

In 2011, the Church of the Epiphany celebrated its 100th Anniversary as a parish.

Cardinal Levada retired as Prefect July 2, 2012.

The auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese was William J. Justice; until his retirement in November 2017.