Pastor’s Corner
New administrator named at Oakland parish
By Carrie McClish
Staff writer (Diocese of Oakland, Voice)
When Father Aidan McAleenan moved into the rectory of St. Columba Church in Oakland last month, the view from his front window could hardly be described as having curb appeal.
By day, busses stop just outside the rectory on San Pablo Avenue to pick up and drop off passengers. By night the din of the bus engines is joined by the sights and sounds of prostitutes plying their trade.
More than 60 crosses sit in the front garden, a memorial to this year’s victims of violence in Oakland.
While some people might be reluctant to make their home in this north Oakland neighborhood, Father McAleenan has no such qualms as he takes over as St. Columba’s parochial administrator. He’s seen it all before. Prior to his ordination, the priest spent several years living and working in the troubled Tenderloin district of San Francisco.
After checking out the Victorian-style rectory, which had served as a residence for theology students over the past decade, the new administrator was eager to move into the house and make it a home. He quickly turned handyman and pulled up carpet, repaired the hardwood floors, and covered the walls with coats of fresh and warm hues of paint. “It just needed to be loved,” Father McAleenan said of the structure, which was built about 1898.
The priest believes that restoring the rectory to its original purpose will help him to be present pastorally to both parishioners and the neighborhood.
Father McAleenan’s work as a housing administrator in San Francisco is part of his lengthy journey to the priesthood. Born in Ireland, he realized his religious vocation at the age of eight. He joined the Redemptorist Order on his 19th birthday and studied at the University of Galway and the Maynooth seminary in the Archdiocese of Dublin. When he left the Redemptorists, he came to the United States and worked in grounds maintenance, construction and as a special education teacher.
He was hired as an administrator of a new AIDS hospice with Catholic Charities in San Francisco in 1988. He oversaw the operation of this and another facility in the Western Addition for five years before becoming the administrator of a complex for families in the Tenderloin. He also worked as a supervisor of several facilities sponsored by Mercy Housing before enrolling at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park.
Following his May 2005 ordination, Father McAleenan served as parochial vicar at Christ the King Parish in Pleasant Hill and at Holy Spirit Parish in Fremont.
When he learned of his appointment to St. Columba, he enrolled in a Black Catholic studies course at Xavier University in New Orleans to gain some insights about the predominately African American Catholic community that he would soon join.
One of his first lessons came soon after he arrived on campus. “It was a funny experience to walk into the room and you are the only white person among a couple of hundred black people. I know black people who have had the opposite experience.” But, he added, everyone there was “incredibly welcoming.”
After hearing the participants complain about not having their traditions respected by pastors who are not black, Father McAleenan said he plans to spend his first months at St. Columba listening to the parishioners and learning about their faith experiences. Then everyone will be invited to work collaboratively on future directions for the parish.
“I am really excited and feel challenged (about joining St. Columba),” Father McAleenan said. “With a lot of prayer and hard work, I think it is really going to be good.”
He is replacing Father Jayson Landeza who is on sabbatical after serving as pastor for the past 10 years in addition to his work as chaplain for the Oakland Police Dept.
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