Bishop Patrick J. McGrath has announced that St. Patrick’s Proto Cathedral in San Jose, CA will be renamed Our Lady of La Vang to emphasize the church as the personal parish of Vietnamese Americans, reports the Valley Catholic.
The cathedral was destroyed in a fire August 30 and parishioners are now attending church at a temporary location.
This is a unique time in our history,” the bishop said referring to the rebuilding of the new church.
“Within the new church will be a large chapel that will be named in honor of Saint Patrick, as a perpetual reminder of the parish’s past,” Bishop McGrath said. “The parish school will continue to bear the name of Saint Patrick.”
But he acknowledge the renaming of the parish is necessary “to reflect the fact that the large majority of parishioners are Vietnamese.