Just last week, an Alameda County jury awarded $16 million<\/a> to one such abuse victim, in a key case aimed at spurring long-plodding settlement talks between other abuse victims and the diocese. A group of some 350 other abuse victims have demanded $314.1 million<\/a> over the course of three-and-a-half years, some $90 million to $134 million more than the diocese\u2019s most recent offer.<\/p>\n Barber made no mention of the pending sexual abuse lawsuits in his letter to the diocese, and he made only a glancing reference to the bankruptcy proceedings \u2014 telling parishioners that \u201cregardless of that outcome, we must face the realities described above and proceed with these closures.\u201d<\/p>\n In his letter, Barber stressed that the moves were due to \u201cthe diocesan-wide trends in declining Mass attendance, participation in the sacraments and Catholic school enrollment (that) began in the early 2010s.\u201d He also cited an \u201call-time low\u201d number of priests available to the diocese, along with the fact that parishes and schools in some parts of the East Bay are \u201cstruggling with financial sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhile many of our parishes were built to serve the Catholic Church of 1965, we now have far fewer priests and parishioners,\u201d Barber\u2019s letter said. \u201cNot all parishes can afford to pay for a support staff to fully serve the parish and our missionary aspirations. Others are surviving on rental of parish parking lots or empty school facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe status quo is not sustainable, nor is it serving God\u2019s people,\u201d Barber added.<\/p>\n The closures include seven locations in Oakland: Mary Help of Christians, Our Lady of Lourdes, Sacred Heart, St. Augustine, St. Paschal Baylon and St. Patrick and the St. Andrew Kim Korean Pastoral Center. Also closing are two locations in Alameda \u2014 St. Albert the Great and St. Barnabas \u2014 along with Our Lady of Guadalupe in Fremont, St. Rose of Lima in Crockett, St. Stephen in Walnut Creek and Transfiguration in Castro Valley.<\/p>\n On Thursday afternoon, at least two of the parishes marked for closure stood silent and seemingly devoid of activity. Knocks on the doors of those locations \u2013 Mary Help of Christians in East Oakland and Our Lady of Lourdes across from Lake Merritt \u2013 went unanswered when visited by a reporter.<\/p>\n The decision has left myriad questions for parish leaders and their congregations. In a letter issued to his congregation, Jayson Landeza, pastor of the soon-to-be-shuttered St. Paschal Baylon in East Oakland acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding artifacts at the site, as well as the future of Vietnamese Mass and a lease agreement the parish had with the Northern Light School at its building.<\/p>\n Landeza wrote that the congregation would have time \u201cin the weeks and months ahead\u201d to remember and mourn the site.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that this news brings sadness, disappointment, anger, and confusion,\u201d he said in his letter, which was obtained by this news outlet. \u201cThose feelings are real, and they deserve to be acknowledged. This is a loss, and it is right to grieve.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"St.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/EBT-L-OAKDIOCESE-0501-2_8f8db3.jpg\")
St. Augustine’s Church on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland on Friday, August 9, 2002. The church is one of 13 locations across the East Bay that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland plans to close, citing a years-long reorganization to address flagging attendance. (Nick Lammers\/Bay Area News Group archive)\u00a0<\/p>\n