The Pluralism Project at Harvard University

Activities and Schedule

English: Saturday 4:30 P.M., Sunday 7:30, 8:30, and 11:30 A.M. and 5:00 P.M., Monday through Friday 7:30 A.M. and 12:10 P.M.; Cantonese: Sunday 10:00 A.M.; Mandarin: First Saturday of the month, 6:00 P.M.

History

Located in the heart of Chinatown, St. James the Greater was established in 1854 to accommodate the rapidly growing Irish Catholic immigrant population in downtown Boston. Today Irish Americans still constitute part of the church membership, but with the influx of Chinese immigrants to Boston during the twentieth century St. James adapted to integrate its new Asian neighbors. In 1946, Archbishop Cushing assigned the Maryknoll Sisters (the first American Catholic foreign mission society) to St. James to facilitate missionary and community work among the Asian immigrant community. Many of those sisters had been missionaries in Guangdong province and were therefore fluent in Cantonese and familiar with Chinese customs.

Description

Today, the Chinese Catholic Pastoral Center continues the Maryknoll Sisters' legacy at St. James, missionizing and providing social services to community members. St. James offers numerous activities throughout the week; please call the church office for more information.