St Joseph Church

Attended Sunday, Oct. 7^th 7:00 AM Mass
Since it was the 1^st Sunday of the month, it was a Latin Mass… wow, I haven’t been to a Latin Mass in ages… make that my whole adult life…
I was really impressed with the Choir and the very Traditional manner in which the mass was said. It really made you reflect on the «roots» of the Catholic Church and why we attend Mass on a weekly basis.
On Sunday’s, St. Joseph’s has Mass Services throughout day, said in English (7:00 am, 8:30 am, 10:00 am, 12 Noon and 7:30 pm), Spanish (1:30 pm & 5:30 pm) and Vietnamese (3:45 pm).

St. Joseph Church has been one of Salem’s oldest buildings and one of Oregon’s preeminent churches as it was started in 1858 (current location), literally 150 years ago. There is so much history in these old walls and through the test of time it has withstood many changes to remain as beautiful as it has in its very simplistic design. Around the first quarter of the 20^th century, the property was expanded to make room for a school where many children have flourished in Salem’s private educational system.
St. Joe’s nowadays hosts many masses, varying from English to Spanish to Vietnamese. The parishioners are good people and they have some of the finest priests I’ve seen during my visits here. The church seems quite large, especially when entering from the inside. During its busiest days, sometimes there isn’t enough seats /​space to house everyone, leaving a few folks to stand near the door.
Overall, this church is one of the (if not THE) best in Salem and carries with it a great history of Catholicism and relics of Oregon’s diverse past. Beware of the parking situation here on Sundays, with no meters running people will park anywhere.