San Jose Parish will not be rebuilt; parishioners must share priest

El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz held a meeting with parishioners at the diocese to discuss the future of San Jose Church. The meeting began with a prayer, but there was a lot of anger in the packed room, and it didn’t take long for some to vent their frustration.

In April, a church that stood for more than a hundred years came tumbling down. Crews demolished the San Jose Parish in El Paso’s Lower Valley. The community planned to renovate the church, but during repairs its walls started to collapse. Engineers evaluated the building and deemed it unsalvageable.

But parishioners never gave up hope. Over the years, they had raised more than a million in funds to put toward building a new church.

Bishop Seitz held this latest meeting to update the community on the future of San Jose Parish. The majority in the audience were not happy about the news he delivered to them. Seitz informed the group they would merge with Santa Lucia Catholic Parish and share a new priest. San Jose Parish will not be rebuilt.

The news led to shouts from the audience demanding the $1.5 million be returned to the San Jose parishioners.

“We raised a $1.5 million. We were told we were a lazy community. If we’re such a lazy community we would not have raised about $1.5 million dollars.” said parishioner Bertha Pedegon.

But Seitz said the money is a restricted fund being held in trust for the parish by the diocese. He said the money can only be used by San Jose parish for capital purposes.

“Although parishioners have been planning to use the money for a church building, the fund’s purpose is broader than that,” said Seitz. “It can be used for any building needs of the parish with the approval of the bishop.”

The Bishop also pointed out El Paso is growing in the East and Northeast, where churches are in demand.

“I don’t not believe that we will be able to continue to serve all of the parishes in the Mission Valley going into the future, in terms of having Mass at each place,” Seitz said.

The fight to save San Jose Parish may not be over. Parishioner Bertha Pedegon said she and others plan to hire an attorney.