Saratoga News
September 11, 1996
 |
Father Alexander C. Larkin will be installed as the fourth pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Saratoga on Saturday, Sept. 14, during a
5 p.m. mass conducted by the Most Rev. Pierre DuMaine, bishop of the Diocese of San Jose.
Sacred Heart Catholic Church was established in 1895 and was originally located at Sixth Street and Big Basin Way. It was a mission church, served first by St. Joseph Parish and later by St. Patrick Parish, said a church spokesperson.
In 1951, Sacred Heart Parish was established to serve the growing Catholic population in the area and the present site on Saratoga Avenue was acquired for development of a new and larger church and a parish school. In 1970, the present church was dedicated and the earlier church converted to a parish hall.
Father Larkin has served as a pastor in Los Altos, San Jose and Palo Alto. For the past four years, he has been a part of Bishop DuMaine's executive staff, with the responsibility of coordinating parishes and pastoral ministry of the diocese. He went to the Philippines and to Korea this past January to meet with church leaders in those countries. He was active in planning for the diocesewide Renew program and has helped develop a Web page where people can access information about the diocese, its 52 parishes and missions and its 28 schools.
As pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, he will serve a community of over 1,400 Catholic families and a parish school with an enrollment of 300 students.
Father Larkin is a native San Franciscan and a graduate of St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park. He has done additional studies at the University of San Francisco, the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley and the Institute for Continuing Education of the Clergy in Rome. He has led an annual pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
"We're really excited because he's coming from the diocese and bringing changes," said Roberta Witte, president of the Pastoral Council.
Father Larkin replaces Father Thomas Ahern, who retired and moved to a retirement facility at St. Joseph Parish in Cupertino.
There will be a reception in the church hall, following the installation where members of the parish will greet the new pastor and share wine and hors d'oeuvres.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, September 11, 1996.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.