St. Basil Catholic Church is a Catholic Church parish of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Serving the archdiocese's Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region, the Roman Rite parish is located at 3611 Wilshire Boulevard in the Wilshire district of Los Angeles, California. The parish church building was built from 1967 to 1969 and dedicated in 1969. In 1969 and 1970, the parish was the site of pickets and demonstrations by Chicano Movement protesters who objected to the archdiocese's expenditure of substantial funds on construction of the new parish rather than on the poor and social justice programs.
Parish history
With the growth of Los Angeles to the west from downtown along Wilshire Boulevard, Bishop John Cantwell announced the creation of a new parish to be named after St. Basil of Caesarea. The parish was created on 26 November 1919. Father William McDermott Hughes (1880–1939) was named as the pastor of St. Basil.
The first permanent church building for the St. Basil parish was built at 7th Street and South Catalina Street and was dedicated on 21 November 1920. In 1922, Father Edward Kirk (1884–1949) became St. Basil's second pastor and remained so for 27 years until his death in 1949.
In June 1923, Bishop Cantwell divided the parish creating the Precious Blood parish in the eastern section of the parish. With the shift in boundaries, the parish acquired a new site at Wilshire Boulevard and South Harvard Boulevard and the existing parish building was cut into three parts and moved to the new site.
In October 1943, the church parish was badly damaged by a fire and subsequently rebuilt. In 1949, Monsignor Henry W. Gross (1891‐1973) became the third pastor of St. Basil and served as the parish pastor for 20 years until his retirement in 1969.
In August 1965, Msgr. Gross announced preliminary plans to build a new complex at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Kingsley Drive. The new structure was designed by the A.C. Martin architectural firm which had also designed the original parish structure in 1920. Construction was handled by the Pozzo Construction Company between 1967 and 1969.
The new church parish was dedicated on 29 June 1969 in a ceremony presided over by Cardinal James Francis McIntyre and Archbishop Timothy Manning. On 15 December 1969, Monsignor Benjamin Hawkes (1919‐1985) was appointed as the fourth pastor of St. Basil and served as pastor for 16 years until his death in 1985.
In 1985, Father M. Francis Meskill (1934‐1998) was appointed as the fifth pastor of St. Basil and remained so for the next 13 years until his death in September 1998.
In 1998, Monsignor Charles Hill was appointed as St. Basil's sixth pastor. He served as pastor for 8 years until 2006 when he retired for medical reasons and remains with the parish as pastor emeritus.
In July 2006, Father Frank Hicks was appointed as administrator of St. Basil. In 2008, he was appointed as the parish's seventh pastor.
Chicano protests of 1969–1970
St. Basil Catholic parish became a focal point of protests during the Chicano Movement from the time of its dedication in June 1969 through 1970. Protesters complained over the extravagance of the archdiocese in spending nearly $3 million on land and improvements to erect the large concrete church.
At the dedication ceremony on 29 June 1969, more than 30 picketers paraded in front of the parish carrying placards and signs which included such phrases as "$1,000,000 for glass and stone, but ? for the Poor", "A Monument to Opulence", "We Are Concerned About This Waste", and "Where is the concern for the poor?".
During the fall of 1969, Católicos Por La Raza formed to protest both the extravagance, as well as the social neglect of the archdiocese. Created by Chicano, Catholic school students, the group sought to return the church's mission to helping the destitute of the local community and address the discrimination that was directed towards their Chicano identity. Such discrimination was made apparent through the racial slur-filled homilies of then, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Cardinal McIntyre. Católicos Por La Raza believed the archdiocese practiced hypocrisy in regards to Jesus Christ's mission to serve the poor.