In January 1981, as a result of the split of Archdiocese of San Francisco, the Diocese of San Jose was created. Despite that fact, the Polish American community living in Santa Clara County was still part of the St. Wojciech Polish Mission in San Francisco. The turning point in the growth of the community was the purchase of land in San Jose, with the goal of building the religious and cultural center in the future.
The legal ownership of the land was granted to the Society of Christ for Polonia, founded in Poland in 1932 by Cardinal August Hlond. The Society of Christ is dedicated to working within communities of Polish immigrants and their descendants around the world.
In October 1986, the Provincial of the Society of Christ nominated, with the permission of the San Jose Diocese bishop, one of the priests from the Society of Christ, as the pastor of the Polish Mission
in San Jose.
The mission received the name of St. Albert Chmielowski, a Polish saint canonized in 1989 by John Paul II. This is the first parish in the United States that chose St. Albert Chmielowski as its patron.
The ground breaking ceremony and starting of the construction in March 1997, was another milestone in the mission's history. This project was completed in April of 1998 and the church was then consecrated by Bishop Pierre Dumaine. A year later, we began the construction of the Parish Center, which consists of 7 small classrooms on the lower level,
and the living quarters, upstairs, for the missionary sisters. Bishop Patrick McGrath has consecrated the Center in April of 2000. Both the architect and the general contractor are of Polish origin.
Today, the Mission has grown into over 250 active families. The ministry is lead by the priest from the Society of Christ. Two Sisters from the order of Missionary Sisters of Christ for Polonia have been working in our community since 1992. The Mission catechizes 100 children, supports a Polish Saturday School, and a scouting organization.
Each parish is a community of communities, and therefore we appreciate the existence of small groups, whose goal is the enrichment of their members faith and preparation of the whole parish for the new millennium of Christianity. We have a prayer group, lectors, altar boys, and a rosary group. The Mission also organizes cultural events, i.e. weekly social coffee hours after the mass, dances, and other celebrations. The Holy Mass in Polish is offered on Saturdays at 5:30 PM, and on Sundays at 10:30 AM and 12:45 PM. All activities center around the American parish of St. Albert Catholic Mission (10250 Clayton Rd., San Jose, CA 95127). The English language Mass is celebrated on Sundays at 9:00 AM.
As you can see, we have achieved a lot in such a short period of time. We are dedicated to preserving the value of faith, and the richness of Polish and Christian culture, by building our own religious and cultural center. We hope that this idea will be supported by the people of good will and open hearts.
Pastors:
Fr. Stanisław Drzał, S.Chr. 1981 -1989
Fr. Andrzej Maślejak, S.Chr. 1989 - 1991
Fr. Stanisław Żak, S.Chr. 1991 - 1996
Fr. Paweł Bandurski, S.Chr. 1996 - 2002
Fr. Jan Karpowicz, S.Chr. 2002 - 2006
Fr. Andrzej Salapata, S.Chr. 2006 - Present