Saint James the Greater Church, Chinatown - Boston, MA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 42° 21.028 W 071° 03.690
19T E 330208 N 4690747
Saint James the Greater Church is a catholic church in the Chinatown neighborhood of Boston and has masses in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
Waymark Code: WMDCQX
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 12/26/2011
Views: 2
In Boston's Chinatown neighborhood and around the corner from Tufts Medical Center, is the Saint James the Greater Catholic Church. This church has services in Cantonese and Mandarin in addition to English.
The church was established around 1854 to meet the needs of a growing Irish immigrant community. I cannot find an exact date the building was built, so, at present, the establishment date is used. The building is red brick with white stone. The structure goes right to the sidewalk. There is no steeple. Stairs from the sidewalk lead up to the three sets of doors. The doors and windows of the first two floors have an arched top. On the third floor, there are three circular windows. The center one is surrounded by a large, semi-circular arch. In the center of the second floor are three stone figures. There are no names below to identify them. I am guessing, that the center figure is Jesus Christ, the papal looking figure to the right is Saint Peter, and the figure on the left is Saint James the Greater. If I find out otherwise, I'll make the changes.
The congregation had gradually changed as Chinese immigrants settled in the neighborhood. In 1967, Cardinal Cushing of the Archdiosese of Boston invited Rev. Francis Li from Hong Kong to become the assistant pastor of the church. This formalized the mission of the church to serve the Chinese-American population in Boston. Today the Chinese Catholic Community serves all Chinese Catholics within the greater Boston area. According to the web site, there are services in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
Sources:
Chinese Catholic Community Page
(
visit link)