Saints Peter and Paul Church ( it, Ss. Pietro e Paolo, ) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Church in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

's North Beach neighborhood. Located at 666

Filbert Street Filbert Street was a football stadium in Leicester, England, which served as the home of Leicester City F.C. from 1891 until 2002. Although officially titled the City Business Stadium in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively by ...

, it is directly across from Washington Square and is administered by the

Salesians of Don Bosco , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turi ...

. It is known as "la cattedrale italiana dell'Ovest", or ''the Italian Cathedral of the West'' (the use of the word "Cathedral" is merely colloquial, not an official designation), and has served as the home church and cultural center for San Francisco's

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

community since its consecration. It offers English, Italian, and Cantonese-language services.

History

The first Saints Peter and Paul Church, built in 1884 on the corner of

and

Grant Avenue Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California, is one of the oldest streets in the city's Chinatown district. It runs in a north–south direction starting at Market Street in the heart of downtown and dead-ending past Francisco Street in the North ...

, was destroyed by the Great Quake of 1906. Construction on the current building was completed in 1924. During 1926–27, the church was the target of radical anti-catholic anarchists, who instituted five separate bomb attacks against the building in the space of one year.Issel, William, ''For Both Cross and Flag: Catholic Action, Anti-Catholicism, and National Security Politics in World War II San Francisco'', Philadelphia PA: Temple University Press, (2010) pp. 24-27 On March 6, 1927, police shot and killed one man and seriously wounded another, Celsten Eklund, a radical anarchist and local soapbox orator, as the two men attempted to light the fuse of a large dynamite bomb in front of the church. The dead man, known only as 'Ricca', was never fully identified; Eklund died of his wounds some time later without giving any information about his co-conspirators. In recent years, Saints Peter and Paul has also become the home church for the city's

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from m ...

Roman Catholic population, offering weekly masses in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Mass in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

is offered monthly as well. Saints Peter and Paul serves the

Archdiocese of San Francisco The Archdiocese of San Francisco (Latin: ''Archdiœcesis Sancti Francisci''; Spanish: ''Archidiócesis de San Francisco'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the Unite ...

In popular culture

The church is prominently featured in the Clint Eastwood movies ''

Dirty Harry ''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American neo-noir action thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department (SFP ...

'' (the Church, and nearby Dante Building, are the scene of sniper attacks by the "Scorpio Killer") and ''

The Dead Pool ''The Dead Pool'' is a 1988 American neo-noir vigilante action thriller film directed by Buddy Van Horn, written by Steve Sharon, and starring Clint Eastwood as Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan. It is the fifth and final film in the ''Dirty ...

''. Scenes from Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 version of ''

The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments ( Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...

'' were filmed at the church while it was under construction. Also featured in '' What's Up, Doc?'' in which Judy Maxwell, portrayed by

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

and Dr. Howard Bannister, portrayed by

Ryan O'Neal Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Pla ...

borrowed a

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

during a car chase. Parts of ''

Sister Act 2 ''Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit'' is a 1993 American musical comedy film, directed by Bill Duke, and released by Touchstone Pictures. It is the sequel to the 1992 film ''Sister Act'', and is loosely based on the life of Crenshaw High School c ...

'' were also filmed here. Both the exterior and the interior of the church were prominently featured in the movie

Getting Even With Dad ''Getting Even with Dad'' is a 1994 American comedy film starring Macaulay Culkin and Ted Danson. Plot Timmy Gleason is the estranged son of ex-con Ray Gleason and has been living with his aunt Kitty and her fiancée Wayne since the death of his ...

, starring

Macaulay Culkin Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin (born Macaulay Carson Culkin; ) is an American actor. Often regarded as one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, he was placed 2nd on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid-Stars". Culkin rose to prom ...

. After their civil ceremony in 1954,

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

and

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

returned for photographs on the steps of this church. DiMaggio was married to

Dorothy Arnold Dorothy Harriet Camille Arnold (July 1, 1885 – disappeared December 12, 1910) was an American socialite and heiress who Missing person, disappeared under mysterious circumstances in New York City in December 1910. The daughter of Francis R. ...

in the church on November 19, 1939, but later divorced. Still married as far as the Church was concerned (having not obtained an annullment), he could not be married in the Catholic Church. In a side entrance, Sts. Peter and Paul Church still showcases a photo in a book displaying proudly DiMaggio's marriage day photo—but with Arnold, not Monroe. DiMaggio's funeral was held here on March 11, 1999, officiated by lifelong family friend and confidant, Armand Oliveri, S.D.B., who politely refuses all interviews or requests to discuss any intimate details of Monroe's or DiMaggio's life. American pop singer Michelle Lambert considers this church her spiritual home, and even portrayed Mary in “Las Posadas de San Francisco,” parade in 2010. In the 2015 disaster film '' San Andreas'', the church and Washington Square was seen being hit by a tsunami as it reaches North Beach. The protagonist of Wendell Berry's novella ''Remembering'', Andy Catlett, walks by the church and reads the Italian inscription over its portal: the opening lines of Dante's ''Paradisio''.

References

External links

Saints Peter and Paul website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saints Peter And Paul Church Anarchism in the United States Anti-Catholicism in the United States Atheism and violence Attacks on churches in North America Church bombings Roman Catholic churches in San Francisco Landmarks in San Francisco North Beach, San Francisco Roman Catholic churches in California Violence against Christians