Saints Peter and Paul Church (, ) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

'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 b ...

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

Salesians of Don Bosco The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

. 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 () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

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, San Francisco, Chinatown district. It runs in a north–south direction starting at Market Street in the heart of downtown and dead-ending past Fran ...

, 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

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

s, who, in the name of

propaganda of the deed Propaganda of the deed, or propaganda by the deed, is a type of direct action intended to influence public opinion. The action itself is meant to serve as an example for others to follow, acting as a catalyst for social revolution. It is primari ...

, instituted five separate bombing 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, officers of the

San Francisco Police Department The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is the Municipal police, municipal law enforcement agency of the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco, as well as San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County, California, San Ma ...

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 Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

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, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

, and English. The

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or ''usus antiquior'' (), Vetus Ordo or the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in ...

Ecclesiastical Latin Ecclesiastical Latin, also called Church Latin or Liturgical Latin, is a form of Latin developed to discuss Christian theology, Christian thought in Late antiquity and used in Christianity, Christian liturgy, theology, and church administration ...

is offered monthly as well. Saints Peter and Paul serves the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

In popular culture

The church is prominently featured in the

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

movies ''

Dirty Harry ''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American action-thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry (film series), ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first appearance as San Francisco Polic ...

'' (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 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 Harry'' film serie ...

''. Scenes from Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 version of '' The Ten Commandments'' 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, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

and Dr. Howard Bannister, portrayed by

Ryan O'Neal Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal (April 20, 1941 – December 8, 2023) was an American actor. Born in Los Angeles, he trained as an amateur boxer before beginning a career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ...

borrowed a

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. One of the most iconic cars in automotive history, the Beetle is noted for its distinctive shape. Its pr ...

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. A sequel to the 1992 film '' Sister Act'', it is loosely based on the life of Crenshaw High School choir inst ...

'' were also filmed here. Both the exterior and the interior of the church were prominently featured in the 1994 movie ''

Getting Even with Dad ''Getting Even with Dad'' is a 1994 American comedy film starring Macaulay Culkin and Ted Danson. It received negative reviews from critics, but was commercially successful, grossing $53.8 million on a budget of $30 million. Plot Timmy Gleason ...

'', starring

Macaulay Culkin Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin (born Macaulay Carson Culkin; ) is an American actor and musician. Considered one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, Culkin has received a Golden Globe Award nomination and other accolades. In 200 ...

. After their civil ceremony in 1954,

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

and

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...

returned for photographs on the steps of this church. DiMaggio was married to Dorothy Arnold 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 Wendell Erdman Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. Closely identified with rural Kentucky, Berry developed many of his agrarian themes in the early essays o ...

'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 California Anti-Catholicism in the United States Atheism and violence Church bombings in the United States Incidents of anti-Catholic violence Roman Catholic churches in San Francisco Landmarks in San Francisco North Beach, San Francisco 1926 crimes in the United States 1927 crimes in the United States Attacks on buildings and structures in the 1920s Building bombings in California