Archbishop Sample to Downsize. Also moved Catholic Sentinel to Pastoral Center.

Making room for parish, archbishop to downsize
Cathedral will make good use of his current quarters there 

 Ed Langlois
Of the Catholic Sentinel

  

Archbishop Alexander Sample and future archbishops of Portland will live in a 3,500-square-foot wooden house to be built on the edge of Mount Calvary Cemetery. Including its chapel, the house will be about a third of the size of the Northwest Portland building archbishops have occupied since the mid-1980s.

“There is a lot of wasted space,” Archbishop Sample says of the residence next to St. Mary Cathedral. 

When the archbishop noticed that Cathedral Parish leaders wanted to boost community life with a parish hall and meeting rooms, he offered to make way by moving out of the three-story former school, built in 1915. 

“I can live anywhere, but the cathedral can’t locate their facilities anywhere,” Archbishop Sample says. “It’s time to vacate that space so the cathedral can use it.”

Since the 1980s, archbishops have lived in the old Cathedral School building in Northwest Portland, with 9,000 square feet of space and high utility bills. The cathedral wanted to use the space for parish ministry, prompting Archbishop Alexander Sample to offer to move and downsize. “I think it’s really good stewardship of the church’s resources, both for the cathedral and the archdiocese,” the archbishop says.

The cathedral has long needed space for community gatherings, says Msgr. Patrick Brennan, the pastor. The lack has been an impediment to building up parish life. 

“It has been very limiting,” Msgr. Brennan says. “We are grateful to the archbishop that he has made this decision.” 

The building now occupied by the archbishop was a school, then a convent. It also housed a few archdiocesan offices. When Archbishop William Levada arrived in 1986, he lived at The Madeleine Parish briefly, then had the old cathedral building renovated. 

Growth at the cathedral and an increase in activity means the square footage for parish functions is most welcome, Msgr. Brennan says. 

The cathedral now has no space for funeral luncheons or wedding receptions. Big events — like gatherings after ordinations — take place in the school gym. That’s workable only on weekends, and a kitchen is lacking.  

The former archbishop’s residence could house a large parish hall, classrooms and perhaps additional space for the parish school. Many groups would be welcome to hold events there.

“We’d like to make the cathedral an open and welcoming place for all parishes,” Msgr. Brennan says.  

The old school building will need seismic upgrades. Meetings are underway to plan the project and parishioners will be asked for input. 

The archbishop’s advisors say his move makes sense economically.  

The archdiocese pays rent and unusually high utility bills at the vast cathedral residence. In the course of 30 years, those costs likely would run at least $900,000. Being relieved from those obligations will more than offset the cost of building the new house, which sits on land already owned by the archdiocese. 

“I think it’s really good stewardship of the church’s resources, both for the cathedral and the archdiocese,” Archbishop Sample says. 

The new two-story house will have three bedrooms, as opposed to the five at the cathedral residence. Archbishops regularly host out-of-town guests, including bishops and the papal nuncio. Unlike archbishops of the past, Archbishop Sample has no live-in housekeeper, but he does care for his mother at his residence and his mother gets help from Holy Spirit Sister Emiliana Moshi, who comes in during the day. 

An architect’s rendering of new quarters for archbishops.

Included in the square footage of the new house is a chapel that will seat about a dozen people. When the archbishop hosts groups at the house, the gathering could include Mass. He says that, with an actual home, he likely will host more gatherings. 

The old school served well as an archbishop’s residence, but now it makes sense to turn it over to the cathedral, says Delia Wilson, longtime property manager for the archdiocese. 

“Archbishop Sample wants something more modest and simple,” Wilson says. 

The new house for archbishops will be built on two acres between Skyline Road and Burnside Road. There are neighbors across the street. The garage will hold two cars and the back of the two-story house will have a deck and patio.

Is the archbishop glad to live next to a cemetery? He jokes about how quiet the neighbors will be, but says seriously that he will feel privileged to live near “holy ground.”