Today, St. Ignatius church is located on the University of San Francisco campus and serves as the University’s chapel as well as a Roman Catholic neighborhood parish. Established in 1855, the first church was a small wood-framed structure on Market Street between 4th and 5th (now the site of Westfield Mall). That same year a one-room schoolhouse, St. Ignatius Academy for Boys, opened next door.
In 1863 a three story brick building was built at the same location and used for both the school and the church. A dispute between Father Anthony Marasschino, the head priest at St. Ignatius, and ArchBishop Joseph Alemany, allegedly over the poaching of parishioners, resulted in Alemany stripping St. Ignatius of parish status.
A grandiose church that could seat 4,000, as well as a new school building, were built in 1880 at the corner of Hayes and Van Ness, now the site of the Davies Symphony Hall[1]. The church and the school parted ways when both were destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake and Fires[2]. A hastily built St. Ignatius Academy was erected at the corner of Hayes and Shrader across from today’s St. Mary’s Hospital. The Academy moved again in 1929 to Stanyon Street, and again in 1969 to its current location in the Sunset District. In 1989, after the Loma Prieta Earthquake[3] destroyed St. Rose Academy for Girls[4], the school became a co-ed campus. The church moved to a small stucco building near Golden Gate Park[5] while its fifth and current church was constructed at Fulton and Parker. It opened in 1914.
This church is a mix of Renaissance and Baroque architecture. While it survived the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, it was subsequently renovated and seismically reinforced. It remains one of the City’s largest churches and its twin spires, decorated with urns and angelic figures, remains a prominent City landmark. The bell tower houses a three ton bell originally from Sheffield England. The dome is a façade. There are individual chapels off the side aisles inside the church, each one with their own domed ceiling and skylight.
The church interior continues to evolve. A Kimball pipe organ obtained from the Collage of the Pacific in San Jose was obtained in 1926. The alter, marble floor and communion rail were installed in 1949. Stained glass windows were installed between 1938-1962. In recent years, four of the Church alcoves were converted into the Manresa Art Gallery[6], featuring Bay Area artists from various religious and nonreligious backgrounds. St. Ignatius was finally reinstated as a parish in 1994.
[1] Davies Symphony Hall: see story coming December 24th
[2] 1906 Earthquake and Fires: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=2849
[3] Loma Prieta Earthquake: see story coming October 17th
[4] St. Rose Academy for Girls: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3404
[5] Golden Gate Park: see story coming April 4th
[6] Visit them at www.stignatiussf.org
