Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral

Holy Rosary Parish was established on October 7, 1927 — the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary — by the Most Reverend John J. Cantwell, Bishop of Los Angeles, to relieve the overcrowded St. Bernardine of Sienna Church in north San Bernardino. The first pastor was Father Patrick Curran. The first Masses were celebrated the last Sunday of October 1927 (the Solemnity of Christ the King) in a rented house on Sierra Way that doubled as a temporary church and rectory. Three lots at the northeast corner of 25th Street and Arrowhead Avenue were purchased, and construction of the present church began in May 1928. The Mission Revival-style building was completed in September 1928 and dedicated on October 7, 1928 — the Feast of the Holy Rosary — by Bishop Cantwell. Following the death of Father Curran, Father Thomas O'Sullivan became pastor, and in 1933 Father Thomas A. Matthews succeeded him. In March 1936 a fund-raising drive raised $6,000 toward a nine-room rectory on Arrowhead Avenue, completed the same year at a cost of $12,000. The priests of Holy Rosary in this era also served as chaplains to St. Bernardine Hospital, the County Hospital, the State Hospital in Patton, area Indian reservations, and celebrated Sunday Mass at Lake Arrowhead during the summer. Driven by post-World War II growth in Southern California, a building fund begun in June 1944 raised enough money to purchase property, build a sisters' residence, and erect an eight-room school. Holy Rosary School was dedicated on December 15, 1946 and opened on January 6, 1947 under the Dominican Sisters from Houston, Texas. A new convent was built in 1950, and the church building itself was extended and renovated in 1953 under Monsignor Matthews. In 1955 a separate upper-grade school called Holy Rosary Academy was built at 2620 N. Arrowhead Avenue. Monsignor Matthews became gravely ill in 1958 and died in December 1961. Father John P. Bland, who had served as administrator since 1959, succeeded him, was named a Monsignor, and was later appointed Vicar General for Religious. Monsignor Bland retired on March 17, 1976 with the title Pastor Emeritus. Father Phillip Straling — a native San Bernardinan and parishioner of Holy Rosary — was appointed pastor on April 2, 1976. On July 14, 1978, Pope Paul VI created the Diocese of San Bernardino, the 170th diocese in the United States, carved from the northern portion of the Diocese of San Diego. Father Straling was named the first bishop and was ordained by Cardinal Timothy Manning on November 6, 1978 at Raincross Square in Riverside. Holy Rosary Church — where Straling himself had been baptized in 1933 — was renamed Our Lady of Rosary Cathedral, and the church was given cathedra status as the seat of the new diocese. Father John Pomis was appointed the cathedral's first Rector, followed by Fathers Vince Walters and Peter Covas. In the spring of 1997, Father Al Lo Pinto led a major renovation of the cathedral that had begun in 1992: a new bell tower, new stucco coating, new restrooms, protective panels on the stained glass windows, a refurbished parish hall, and an expanded parking lot. The five-year, $1 million project was completed at Easter 1997. In 2021, while the cathedral was largely empty because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the diocese undertook an interior facelift aimed at making it a 'smart church.' New Bose sound equipment and an induction loop for hearing-aid users were installed (about $140,000, shared with the diocese and a Caritas Telecommunications grant), along with new lighting, new carpet, and new blue upholstery on the pews and the Bishop's chair — colors chosen to honor the cathedral's Marian patron. Floor sensors trigger mounted live-stream cameras that follow the priest, lector, or cantor automatically. More recent rectors have included Father Duong Nguyen, S.V.D., who led the 2021 renovation, and Father Alex Gamino, before the present Rector, Father Rafael Partida. Today the cathedral continues to host the annual Chrism Mass, the Diocesan Awards Ceremony, the Migration Mass, and diocesan confirmation ceremonies.