The History of Saint Mark Catholic Church
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September 1, 1965
St. Mark Parish was established by Archbishop Joseph McGucken. The congregation was formed by parishioners from Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) and St. Gregory’s whose parish boundaries were changed.
The first pastor was Fr. William Flanagan who found an automotive garage at 785 Old County Road to use.
The first mass was said on September 12, 1965, and the parish became St. Mark Catholic Church.
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1969
Fr. David Walsh became pastor at St. Mark after Fr. Flanagan was transferred to St. Patrick's church in San Jose. St. Mark parishioners fondly referred to their church as God’s Garage.
Of course, there was still no church or rectory, so mass continued in the garage and Fr. Walsh resided in a home in Sterling Downs.
In that same year, Redwood Shores also became part of the parish.
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June 27, 1970
Ground was broken and the new church was built, after numerous and varied fundraisers and approval by the Belmont City Council.
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October 17, 1971
St. Mark was formally dedicated at a mass celebrated by Archbishop McGucken with blessings sent by Pope Paul VI.
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1983
The building of the new parish rectory was completed after about a year of construction.
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1999
Fr. Flanagan returned to St. Mark as pastor, after Fr. David Walsh was taken ill and passed away. He continued to live at the rectory, actively participating in the parish until he too passed away in 2004.
St. Mark’s has since been fortunate to have had other very dedicated pastors. They built buildings, enhanced the church & chapel, and started programs and spiritual traditions that continue to this day.
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June 27, 1999
Ground was broken for the construction of the parish center. The building was completed in the year 2000 and blessed by Archbishop Levada, but it wasn’t until March 17, 2006 that it was formally dedicated as the Fr. Flanagan Hall.
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2007 onwards
The church received another facelift. Devotional areas were created for Mary and Joseph on either side of the church and a new roof added new lighting and a stained glass cupola.
Beautiful new doors were added in 2008 and In 2015, the baptismal font was moved to the entrance and the church and chapel were repainted.
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September 13, 2015
St. Mark celebrated its 50th year jubilee with a mass in our beautiful church con-celebrated by Archbishop Cordileone. A reception in Father Flanagan Hall followed.
The parishioners of St. Mark were all extremely proud of thier parish and all that had been accomplished in the past 50 years.
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December 4, 2022
A new project saw fruition! St. Mark parishioners, together with their current pastor, Fr. Angel Quitalig, attended the blessing of the newly constructed Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes parish plaza after a mass celebrated by Archbishop Salvatorre Cordileone.
Dream it
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Build it
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Grow it
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Dream it • Build it • Grow it •
St. Mark Clergy Through the Years
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Fr. William Flanagan, Pastor
1965 - 1969
St. Mark's first pastor. Fr. Flanagan returned to St. Mark as co-pastor when his successor Fr. Walsh became ill.
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Fr. David Walsh, Pastor
1969
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Msgr. Floro Arcamo
1993 - 2001
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Fr. Joe Bradley
Ordained in 1991. St. Mark's very own!
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Rev. Alvan Furtado
2001 - 2014
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Monsignor Heuring
Although not “officially” assigned to our parish was an integral part for over 20 years, until his death in 2010.
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Deacon Jerry Quinn
In 2012, parishioner Jerry Quinn became our own Deacon
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Msgr. James Tarantino
2014 - 2018
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Fr. Angel Quitalig, Pastor
2019 - Present
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Fr. Dominic Lee, Priest-in-Residence
2020 - Present
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Deacon Rich Dizon
2020 - Present