Franciscan to be rector at National Shrine
Archbishop George H. Niederauer has appointed Capuchin Father Gregory Coiro rector of the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi and the La Nuova Porziuncola Chapel in San Francisco, located at Columbus and Vallejo in North Beach.
A former director of media relations and spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Father Gregory hosted a “Clergy on Call” program on KPLS-AM. He also served as a consultant to motion pictures and television programs including “The Father Dowling Mysteries,” “Sister Act” – which was filmed primarily on location at San Francisco’s St. Paul Church - and “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.”
Father Gregory has taught at Daniel Murphy High School, Los Angeles; San Joaquin Memorial High School, Fresno; and the Capuchins’ St. Francis High School, La Cañada Flintridge, where he also served as chaplain. Father Gregory is also a former parochial vicar at Our Lady of Angels Parish in Burlingame where the Capuchin Friars have ministered since the parish founding in 1926.
Founded in 1849, St. Francis of Assisi Church was the oldest parish in California and served as the pro-cathedral for the Archdiocese of San Francisco for three years. It survived the 1906 earthquake although the fire that followed gutted it. The church was rebuilt within its still-standing walls and continued to serve as a parish until it was closed as part of a realignment of parishes following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
Emeritus San Francisco Archbishop (now Cardinal) William Levada re-opened St. Francis of Assisi as a shrine in honor of the city’s patron saint in 1998. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops designated it as the National Shrine of St. Francis in September 1999. Currently undergoing seismic retrofitting, the shrine church is scheduled to resume operations at the work’s completion.
Father Gregory, now living at the Capuchins’ San Buenaventura Friary in San Francisco, has been serving as spiritual assistant to the Knights of St. Francis. The volunteer association was founded by Angela Alioto, who played a principal role in the construction at the shrine of La Nuova Porziuncola, a faithful replica of St. Francis’ favorite church in Assisi. The Knights of St. Francis serve in hospitality at La Nuova Porziuncola Chapel, and also assist in the shrine’s Francesco Rocks gift shop.
Throughout the time the shrine church has been closed, La Porziuncola Nuova, now visited by several thousand pilgrims and tourists each week, has continued to offer prayer and special events. La Porziuncola Nuova and the Francesco Rocks Gift Shop are open every day but Monday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Visit www.knightsofsaintfrancis.com.
From June 25, 2010 issue of Catholic San Francisco.
