If you noticed a lot of security around downtown San Jose last Sunday, it wasn’t for the Cardinals, who were here to play the 49ers, but for a cardinal — as in, from the Vatican.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin serves as Secretary of State for the Vatican, essentially making him Pope Leo XIV’s second in command. He accepted an invitation from Rev. Justin Le of Our Lady of La Vang Parish to visit the Diocese of San Jose and spent three days here.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, left, is greeted by Msgr. Francis Cilia outside St. Joseph Cathedral Basilica in downtown San Jose on on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. (Jamil Dababneh/Diocese of San Jose)
His most public appearances were Sunday, when he celebrated mass at Our Lady of La Vang Parish on East Santa Clara Street and was part of a dialogue with teenagers and young adults at St. Joseph Cathedral Basilica that evening. On Monday, he visited the Chancery on North First Street and Catholic Charities’ John XXIII Center near San Jose City Hall before dinner at Our Lady of Peace Shrine in Santa Clara. On his final day Tuesday, he spent time with the cloistered nuns in Los Altos and visited Mission Santa Clara.
Bishop Oscar Cantú welcomed Cardinal Parolin on Sunday in front of an overflow crowd at Our Lady of La Vang, making note of the diversity of the Diocese of San Jose. “Each community brings its own gifts, its own expressions of faith and its own story of hope and perseverance,” the bishop said.
During his remarks on the 112th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Cardinal Parolin continued that theme, talking about the challenges faced by both the Vietnamese and Latino migrant populations that reside in San Jose and the importance of putting a face on threatened migrant populations. He also talked about artificial intelligence, a topic about which he also spoke at the United Nations last month.
“Here in San Jose, this defense of human dignity has another particular important dimension,” he said. “We are in Silicon Valley, one of the great centers of technological innovation and artificial intelligence. The extraordinary advances taking place here offer tremendous possibilities for humanity, but they also place before us profound moral questions.”
Bishop Cantú, he said, will be part of the search for those answers, as he’s been recently appointed chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Task Force on Preserving Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
“It is especially fitting that the bishop of San Jose should undertake this responsibility from the very heart of Silicon Valley,” Cardinal Parolin said. “May his leadership help foster a fruitful dialogue between the church, scientists, technology leaders, policy makers and society so that technological progress may always remain at the service of humanity and the common good.”
CELEBRATING AFRICAN CINEMA: The 17th annual Silicon Valley African Film Festival starts Oct. 8 at the Historic Hoover Theatre in San Jose’s Rose Garden neighborhood, presenting 75 films from 33 countries over four days.
Founding Director Chike Nwoffiah said the event is more than a film festival, having become a gathering place where communities can connect and the African and African diaspora stories can be celebrated. “It is an honor to offer our community an unfiltered access to the richness, diversity and vitality of Africa’s creative expressions and provide a forum for cultural exchange,” he said.
The opening night feature film is “Afrotōpia,” which making its North American premiere and is directed by David Mboussou, who will be in attendance for a post-screening discussion. Another film worth watching out for is the documentary “Diagnosing Healthcare” from Kenan Moos, who grew up in Los Altos and co-founded the group Justice Vanguard. It will be screened Oct. 10 at 1 p.m. Get the full lineup and other details at www.svaff.org.
NEW FALL FLAVOR: Pumpkin space is passe, says Heather Lerner, who recently took over as executive director of the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy. She’s hoping visitors to Pumpkins in the Park on Oct. 10 agree and go wild over the Sweet Potato Pie Latte that Nirvana Soul will be brewing up at the gourd-y celebration at Discovery Meadow in downtown San Jose.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the pumpkin-palooza, the Sweet Potato Pie Lattes — SPPLs? — are being sold for $30 apiece, but $20 of that goes toward the conservancy and you get a special souvenir tumbler and a keychain.
Pumpkins in the Park, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., includes morning yoga, kid-friendly activities, a costume parade and performances including the Greene Academy of Irish Dancers and Los Mestizos de San Jose folklorico. There’ll also be more than 1,000 pumpkins that’ll be given to families. Go to www.grpg.org to RSVP (and pre-purchase your SPPL).
OUTDOOR PARTY: Conservation nonprofit Green Foothills holds its annual fundraiser, Nature’s Inspiration, at a different outdoor location each year to showcase the wide range of farmland and outdoor space in Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Benito counties. This year, the site was MOHI Ranch near Morgan Hill, where 250 people gathered Sept. 27 to hear a talk with artist and naturalist Obi Kaufmann, author of the California Field Atlas series whose latest book, “California Inside Out: Mapping an Ecology of Mind,” will be published this month.
The event raised more than $300,000 for Green Foothills’ programs, and Andrea Mackenzie, who is retiring as general manager of the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority after 15 years, was a surprise honoree.