Oregon was one of the last of the United States that Catholic missionaries reached, with the first Mass in the state in January 1839, so perhaps it’s not a surprise that Oregon consistently clocks in as one of the least religious states in the U.S.
Yet the Beaver State boasts a small but mighty Catholic community of about 430,000 Catholics, some 12 percent of the state’s population.
If you count yourself among this number, or find yourself visiting the area, don’t miss these beautiful and significant Catholic sites!
1
St. Francis de Sales Cathedral, Baker City
The Catholic Church in the Western United States had some colorful stories over the years, and one of the most memorable is that of the “John Wayne bishop,” Bishop Charles O’Reilly. When Pope Leo XIII appointed him Bishop of Baker City in 1903, O’Reilly arrived in his new episcopate to be greeted by four renegade priests armed with guns!
The former bishop of the territory was said to relegate discontented priests to this far-flung area, and these priests were not about to welcome their new bishop’s presence. When O’Reilly tried to reassign one of those priests, Louis P. Desmarais, he refused. O’Reilly had to forcibly eject him from the church property; Desmarais responded by trying to sue O’Reilly for assault and battery.
Somehow O’Reilly prevailed in his mission despite this mess and managed to lead his new diocese with great success. He laid the cornerstone of St. Francis de Sales Cathedral in 1906, dedicating the building in 1908; completed a new 115-bed facility for St. Elizabeth Hospital in Baker in 1915; and increased the number of parishes in the diocese from six in 1903 to 25 in 1918. Not bad for a bishop who faced a Wild West-style showdown on his first day!
2
The National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother, Portland
The National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother, popularly known as “The Grotto” in the region, is a 62-acre founded in 1924. The sacred site, a scene of natural beauty and peaceful prayer, celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, with centennial celebrations throughout the month of September.
Servite Fr. Ambrose Mayer founded The Grotto because of a childhood promise:
The story of this beautiful shrine begins at the end of the 19th century, with a young boy who learned that his mother lay near death after giving birth to a daughter. In tears, the boy ran to the little parish church in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. He prayed for his mother’s life, promising that if she were spared, he would one day undertake a great work for the Church. Both his mother and baby sister survived. The future Father Ambrose Mayer never forgot his promise.
Today the site is a ministry of the Order of Friar Servants of Mary, who care for The Grotto with compassion, hope and faith that people who come there will find their way to a closer relationship with God. The Grotto is intended to be a place where the human spirit can seek peace and consolation. Visitors can pray at the chapel, tour the gardens and visitor center, and participate in pilgrimage and retreat events.
3
St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, St. Paul
Founded in 1836, St. Paul’s was the first church in Oregon to be built with bricks when it was constructed in 1846. It is the oldest brick building in the Pacific Northwest and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The parish has a beautiful history beginning in 1834 when French Canadian Catholics sent a letter to the Bishop of Quebec asking for a priest to serve their needs. It was not until 1839 that a priest arrived, the first Catholic priest in Oregon. His new parishioners were ready for him with a log chapel and rectory they had built by hand with care and devotion.
When this early structure burned down, the parishioners built a new brick church, another labor of love using 60,000 bricks fired on site. It was dedicated on November 1, 1846, and is still in use today.
While you’re in the area, you might want to drive 10 minutes up the road to have lunch and tour the grounds of Lady Hill Winery, situated on 1500 acres of the Owen family’s 150-year-old farm. The proprietors, Jerry and Elaine Owen, are a Catholic couple with nine children, and the award-winning Lady Hill wines are famous throughout the region.
4
St. Mary by the Sea, Rockaway Beach
St. Mary by the Sea bears the distinction of standing closer to the sea than any other Catholic church in the continental United States, as the flood tide will come within 150 feet of the building. The church was designed to be “highly influenced by the nautical atmosphere of its setting”:
While the sea motif is not evident from the outside, to walk in, is to enter the world of sailing ships. The walls and ceiling of the church are paneled in the manner of ship’s cabins, using hand-selected, straight grain, knot free cedar boards. The beams in the ceiling, and particularly around the sanctuary, reflect the influence of the shipwright rather than a carpenter. The lighting is supported on four-pronged anchors decorated with a ship’s wheel and hung from the center beam with chains. In the sanctuary are two ships’ lanterns, one on either side of the altar. On the side altars, half-anchors support the lights. Two stained glass windows adorn the wall behind the altar.
Interior paintings show Christ in the fishing boat with the Apostles and a seascape painting of the Virgin Mary, and the holy water fonts are carved in the shape of Spanish galleons. This church is a bucket-list visit for lovers of the sea!
5
Queen of Angels Monastery and Mount Angel Abbey, Mount Angel
The city of Mount Angel is a special place for Oregon Catholics: “Religion is an integral part of the story of Mt. Angel,” a local writer explains. The city’s very name came from the two Benedictine religious communities that have made their home here since the 1880s.
The significance of this place began when Rev. Fr. Adelhelm Odermatt, O.S.B., came to Oregon in 1881 with a contingent of Benedictine monks from Engelberg, Switzerland, to establish a new American daughter house. After visiting several locations, he found the town that was known at the time as Lone Butte to be the ideal location for a new abbey.
He traveled back to Switzerland to ask Benedictine sisters to travel to the area along with his own community members: “the monks wanted sisters to teach the children and also to do the cooking and housekeeping for the monks,” Sr. Alberta Dieker, monastery archivist and historian, told Our Town. The sisters had to stay in an abandoned saloon at first (talk about the Wild West!) but managed to establish a school nearby. Construction began in 1886 for Queen of the Angels Monastery.
The monks were hard at work too, and Fr. Odermatt established Mount Angel Abbey, a Benedictine monastery and school, in 1884. He also worked to change the name of the town to Mount Angel, a translation of his Swiss hometown (Engelberg meaning “angel mountain”) and a fitting name for what was becoming a hub of Catholic life in the area.
The work and ministries of both the abbey and the monastery have changed a lot over the years; at one point the sisters operated a college, now closed, and today they host a homeless shelter and retreat center. Their numbers shrunk over the decades, and in 2022, the sisters made the difficult decision to move out of Queen of Angels Monastery to nearby housing. The property now belongs to Catholic Community Services of the Mid-Willamette Valley and Central Coast.
The abbey continues to flourish, operating a seminary, museum, guesthouse and retreat center, library, bookstore and coffeehouse, and even a brewery and taproom. Guests are welcome to tour the property (check out the “Hilltop Walking Tour”), attend events, and join the community in prayer.
BONUS SITE
Sacred Hearts Shrine, Sublimity
Vincent J. Etzel was known in his community as a quiet and faith-filled bachelor farmer, but only a few knew his secret: He believed he’d seen Jesus and the Virgin Mary. He told two local priests and his niece about the vision, but no one else knew until his death in July 2008 at age 88. After his death, he left some $130,000 for the establishment of a permanent shrine dedicated to the Sacred Hearts of Mary and Jesus. You can read the incredible story here and visit the chapel behind St. Boniface Church.
And today we celebrate...