[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18096]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 IN RECOGNITION OF THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF ST. MATTHEW CATHOLIC CHURCH

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                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 3, 2013

  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the 150th anniversary of St. 
Matthew Catholic Church in San Mateo, California. Since its founding in 
1863 the buildings, parishioners and pastors have changed, but the 
church has always been a place for comfort, solace, community and 
friendship for everyone.
  A century and a half ago, Archbishop Alemany sent Father Denis 
Dempsey to San Mateo to establish the first parish in the county. A 
small wooden-steeple church was built on the corner of Third Avenue and 
A Street--today Ellsworth Avenue--on a piece of land donated by Charles 
B. Polhemus, an investor in the San Francisco-San Jose Railroad. Father 
Dempsey was the pastor for 18 years and earned the admiration and love 
of his parishioners. It is said that his funeral mass was attended by 
local officials and dignitaries from throughout the State.
  Sadly, the next pastor, Father William Bowman, only had a tenure of 
seven months before he passed away. He was followed by Father Peter 
Birmingham who presided for three years until he was transferred to San 
Francisco. Longevity was the signature of the fourth pastor, Father 
Timothy Callaghan. He served St. Matthew Church for 53 years. During 
his tenure, a parish cemetery was established and a new church was 
built. The congregation was growing and the threat of a fire destroying 
the old wooden church led to a fire resistant brick church on Ellsworth 
between Second and Third Avenues. The dedicating mass was held in 
September of 1900. Father Callaghan was elevated to Right Reverend and 
witnessed continual growth of the parish.
  Father Henry J. Lyne became the fifth pastor and established a parish 
school in 1931. Seven Sisters of the Holy Cross taught 140 students in 
the first year. He is credited with starting Catholic formal education 
in the Archdiocese of San Francisco on the peninsula. In 1947, Pope 
Pius XII appointed him a Domestic Prelate with the title Monsignor.
  Father Edward J. Meagher, the sixth pastor, saw unprecedented growth 
of the Catholic population after World War II. In 1952, total 
enrollment from Kindergarten to the 8th grade had grown to 861. Father 
Meagher raised funds to build an independent parish in Shoreview which 
was named St. Timothy as a tribute to Monsignor Timothy Callaghan. Soon 
after that, the Western portion of St. Matthew parish was detached with 
the establishment of Bartholomew parish. Father Meagher's successor, 
Father Bernard C. Cronin, oversaw the building of a new St. Matthew 
Church and Rectory at Ninth Avenue and El Camino Real which opened in 
May 1966. The downtown church also remained open. Father Cronin was 
elevated to Right Reverend Monsignor in 1972.
  In 1979, Father James Ward, a graduate of St. Matthew School, class 
of 1937, became its eighth pastor. Father James Ward was devoted to the 
school and the students. During his tenure, the downtown church was 
demolished after suffering seismic damage. He and the archdiocese 
fought hard, yet unsuccessfully, for the vacated property that was 
eventually leased to Walgreen Drug. Father Ward died from a leg 
infection in 1995. Monsignor James McKay succeeded him and oversaw 
fundamental renovations of the newer church at El Camino Real and Ninth 
Avenue that are still in place today.
  In 2004, the tenth and current pastor replaced Monsignor McKay. 
Father Anthony McGuire now oversees the St. Matthew parish of 2,500 and 
is credited with growing the diverse parish and attracting an ever 
increasing number of Hispanic and Asian families.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to 
honor the rich history of St. Matthew Church in San Mateo which has 
been a place of spiritual and social growth for thousands of families 
for 150 years.

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