About St. Patrick Catholic Church · Portland, Oregon
St. Patrick Catholic Church is a parish of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, located in the Northwest District of Portland just below the Fremont Bridge at the edge of the Pearl District. Established in 1885 to serve Irish Catholic lumber and dockworkers in the old Slabtown neighborhood, it is the oldest Catholic church in continuous use in the city. The parish celebrates Mass in English and Spanish, hosts the renowned Latin choir Cantores in Ecclesia, and is currently undergoing a major restoration to return its historic basilica to its original grandeur.
- Established
- 1885
- Patron
- St. Patrick
- Rector
- Rev. Timothy (Tim) Furlow
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon
Why belong here
St. Patrick's offers a rare combination in Portland: the most historic Catholic sanctuary in the city (a basilica on the National Register of Historic Places, lovingly being restored) and a genuinely bilingual Catholic community celebrating Mass in English and Spanish each Sunday, daily Mass, a strong OCIA program, and a flourishing sacred-music culture — including its role as the home of the acclaimed Latin choir Cantores in Ecclesia. With long-standing men's and women's groups, a flourishing Sacred Music Ministry, Sacristans and Altar Servers, a St. Jerome Library of more than 600 books, and beloved traditions like the annual St. Patrick's Day Dinner and the summer Kermes festival, the parish bills itself as an 'authentically Christ-centered community deeply rooted in the traditions and rituals of the Roman Church.'
Mass times at St. Patrick Catholic Church
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 10:30 AM
Adoration times
- Wednesday Holy Hour (6:30–7:30 PM, per third-party listings)
- Adoration Chapel (hours published on parish calendar)
Parish History
From a small 1885 mission serving Irish Catholic lumber and dockworkers in Slabtown, to a basilica on the National Register of Historic Places, St. Patrick's has witnessed and served more than a century of Northwest Portland. The cornerstone laid on St. Patrick's Day 1889, the silver-jubilee frescoes of 1914, the building of the parish school in 1918 and its closure in 1957, the near-death of the parish in the 1970s, and the Hispanic and Latin-choir revivals of the 1980s together trace the story of Northwest Portland itself.
- 1885: parish founded by Archbishop William Hickley Gross as Sacred Heart, a cathedral mission
- 1888: Fr. Patrick Gibney becomes first full-time pastor
- March 17, 1889: cornerstone laid, more than 5,000 in attendance
- 1891: church dedicated in honor of St. Patrick
- 1914: interior frescoes by Phillip Staehli for the silver jubilee
- 1918: parish school opened under Fr. Charles Smith
- 1957: school closed as neighborhood industrialized
- 1972: parish, with only 60 registered families, reverts to mission status
- 1974: listed on the National Register of Historic Places
- 1980: selected to serve Portland's Hispanic Catholic community
- 1985: becomes home of Latin choir Cantores in Ecclesia
- 1989: celebrates its centennial
Architecture & Building
The cruciform church, designed by Otto K. Kleemann — his only surviving church in Portland — is built of Clackamas County basalt and crowned by an Italianate hipped dome with a spire. Its bays are divided by Ionic pilasters, its earliest windows come from the Povey Brothers Studio, and its 1914 interior frescoes by Phillip Staehli reproducing renderings from Trinity College, Dublin, are among the most distinctive murals in any Oregon Catholic church.
- Architect: Otto K. Kleemann (Portland)
- Style: Second Renaissance Revival / Greek Revival
- Material: locally-quarried Clackamas County (Boring) basalt
- Italianate hipped dome with spire 35 feet above the roof ridge
- Povey Brothers stained glass (early commissions)
- 1914 interior frescoes: Transfiguration over the altar, flanked by Sts. Patrick and Bridget; Irish-saints procession along the nave
- NRHP listing: 1974 (Reference No. 74001713)
- Rectory: Queen Anne style two-story frame building
Worship Schedule & Sacraments
St. Patrick's offers a bilingual Sunday schedule with Spanish Mass at 8:00 AM and English Mass at 10:00 AM, complemented by daily Mass at noon Tuesday through Saturday and the parish's Saturday 10:30 AM confession. The parish maintains a perpetual Adoration Chapel and a Wednesday Holy Hour, and Fr. Tim publishes a full liturgical and event calendar on the parish website.
- Sunday Masses: 8:00 AM (Spanish), 10:00 AM (English)
- Weekday Mass: 12:00 PM Tuesday–Saturday
- Confessions: Saturday 10:30 AM
- Wednesday Holy Hour (Adoration)
- Adoration Chapel
- OCIA and other sacramental preparation by request
Meet the Staff
St. Patrick's is led by its pastor, Fr. Timothy Furlow — a Portland-born priest trained at Franciscan University of Steubenville, the Pontifical North American College, and the Pontifical Universities of the Gregorian and St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome — alongside a small lay staff and ministry team who keep the parish office, music program, weddings, and pastoral outreach running.
- Rev. Timothy Furlow — Pastor (administrator since July 2018)
- James Ruiz — Pastoral Associate (B.A. in Religious Studies, Arizona State, 2024)
- Cenolina Abarca — Office Manager
- Melissa Hart — Coordinator of Sacred Music (Berklee College of Music; also choir director at Chesterton Academy and member of Cantores in Ecclesia)
- Helen Heller — Wedding Coordinator (also serves the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception)
Music & Liturgical Arts
Sacred music is central to parish life at St. Patrick's. The parish coordinates its music ministry in-house and, since June 1985, has also housed Cantores in Ecclesia, the acclaimed Portland-based Latin choir that frequently records and tours sacred repertoire from the Church's treasury. Byrd Festival Concerts are held at the church in collaboration with Cantores in Ecclesia.
- Coordinator of Sacred Music: Melissa Hart
- In-residence Latin choir: Cantores in Ecclesia
- Sacred Music Ministry / Parish Choir
- Byrd Festival Concerts at St. Patrick's
- Floral Ministry
- Sacristans and Altar Servers
Faith Formation & Community Life
Beyond the liturgy, the parish runs a strong OCIA program, the multi-level 'Living the Faith' formation series with Fr. Tim, and an unusually well-stocked St. Jerome Library of more than 600 volumes. Men's and women's groups meet regularly, and Coffee and Donuts after the 10 AM Sunday Mass is a long-running tradition of fellowship.
- OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) — strong preparation program
- Living the Faith series with Fr. Tim Furlow
- Men's Group
- Women's Group (Thursdays)
- St. Jerome Library (600+ books)
- Coffee and Donuts after the 10 AM Sunday Mass
- Personal spiritual plan — 7 concrete steps
- Children's play group
Annual Events & Parish Traditions
St. Patrick's cherishes its calendar of annual traditions, anchored by the parish's namesake celebration — the St. Patrick's Day Dinner with Irish music and live auction — and rounded out by the summer Kermes festival, the annual Parish BBQ, an autumn pilgrimage to the Grotto, and an All Saints Day procession in which children dress as the saints.
- St. Patrick's Day Dinner (three seatings, live Irish music, auction)
- August Kermes festival with Mexican and Latin American food, music, and games
- Summer Parish BBQ
- Parish Pilgrimage to the Grotto
- All Saints Day: children of the parish dress as saints
Historic Restoration Project
After more than a century, St. Patrick's is mid-restoration. The parish is actively fundraising to return the basilica and rectory to their original historic condition, with work already underway on lighting, flooring, and beautiful new pews and continuing into original plaster, gilding of the high altar, marbling of the pillars, two new side altars, and a new shrine to St. Patrick.
- New lighting, flooring, and pews installed/in progress
- Restoration of Staehli frescoes and plaster repairs
- Regilding of the high altar
- Marbling work on the pillars
- Two new altars and a shrine to St. Patrick
- Rectory restoration (Queen Anne structure essentially unaltered)
Plan Your Visit
The parish office is open Tuesday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (closed Sunday, Monday, and Saturday). Visitors can attend a bilingual weekend liturgy, weekday noon Mass, the Saturday 10:30 AM confessions, or the Wednesday Holy Hour, and parking is available in the parish lot. The site is at 1623 NW 19th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209 — phone (503) 222-4086, [email protected].
- Address: 1623 NW 19th Ave, Portland, OR 97209
- Phone: (503) 222-4086
- Email: [email protected]
- Office hours: Tuesday–Friday, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
- On-site parking; lot inquiries: (503) 222-4086 ext. 104
- Located beneath the Fremont Bridge at the edge of the Pearl District / Slabtown
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Patrick Gibney1888–
First full-time pastor; supervised construction of the rectory and the new church; credited with influencing Archbishop Gross to dedicate the parish to St. Patrick.
- Fr. O'Reilly1896–1899
Drew the plans for the interior finish and supervised the covering of the interior.
- Fr. Charles Smithfrom 1918
Ninth pastor; developed the parish school and remodeled the rectory for the arriving Sisters of St. Francis in 1925.
- Fr. J. Aidan Mayo
Pastor during the 2000s/early 2010s who celebrated Mass in Spanish and English to serve new waves of Hispanic immigrants.
- Rev. Timothy FurlowAdministrator from July 2018; Pastor
Born in Portland in 1982; studied at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Mount Angel Seminary, the Pontifical North American College, and the Pontifical Universities of the Gregorian and St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome; previously Parochial Vicar at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.