San Jose Church to be demolished

because the church has been declared unsalvageable. this afternoon, we’re learning more about other obstacles the parish is facing before deciding how to move forward. abc-7’s julio-cesar chavez caught up with parishioners who are saying their farewells to the beloved church .. he’s live from our newsroom. evan, josie, san jose church has served the lower valley for more than 100 years. one 92-year-old man i spoke with said he’s gotten all his sacraments there, from baptism to marriage. but what has been an icon of this small neighborhood will soon be gone and it’s still unclear what the future holds for members: jenny de la luz “our mothers, our fathers, everybody here is sad because it’s our church” the san jose church has stood for more than a century time has taken its toll on the old adobe building mary gonzalez “the train pass every day, so there was cracks all over the church” and it’s started to collapse. the damage so extensive there’s no way to save the temple it’ll have to be demolished this week jose alcocer “iba costar much mas la reparacion” repairs would cost too much, it would be cheaper to build a new one seitz “churches have a lifetime they don’t last forever” but parishioners don’t want to lose their community they’ve fundraised more than a million dollars, hoping to raise a new temple over the old one jenny de la luz “we want our ow church. it’s only 175-200 people but it’s still our church” but it’s not just about building costs. bishop seitz says there is a lot to be taken into consideration before knowing what will happen with the parish seitz “we do have a shortage of priests right now, so that makes the situation a little more complicated” many faithful fear they’ll be forced to move to other communities after their old church is torn down, but bishop seitz says there is still hope seitz “doesn’t mean an end fo the parish” he says the diocese still needs to look at all of their options before deciding the future of this small congregation but for now jose alcocer “mientras que yo este aqui se va seguir celebrando el culto ah? en el salon” as long as he’ here they will keep celebrating mass in the hall thanks