Santa Sophia Church

The Santa Sophia Catholic Church is within the Diocese of San Diego.  It's tower and barrel roof dominates the skyline of the Casa de Oro section of Spring Valley CA.

The community of Casa de Oro was once part of the extensive land holdings of the Mission San Diego de Alcala, a Franciscan Mission founded by Father Junipero Serra in 1769. In 1846, the Mission lands, and the rest of California, became part of the United States. American farmers began settling in Spring Valley in the 1870s. This area remained rural farmland for many decades until the flood of new residents following World War II. The population of San Diego County exploded during the WWII as soldiers, sailors, and war workers rushed to San Diego as part of the war effort. Many of these new arrivals remained and within a few years became part of the steady growth that built up the East County.

Bishop Charles F. Buddy, the first Bishop of San Diego, established the Catholic Community of Santa Sophia on October 10, 1956. This new parish was carved out from the parishes of St. John of the Cross in Lemon Grove, St. Martin of Tours in La Mesa and Holy Trinity in El Cajon.

Masses were first celebrated in the Kalinoski Family home on Calavo Drive and in the Community Center on Memory Lane. Soon Msgr. Daniels commissioned a permanent house of worship for the 150 families under his care along with a rectory for the priests.

With the generous donation of land by the Nasim Fares Family, construction on both the church and rectory began in June, 1957. The first Mass in the new church was celebrated on July 6, 1958.

Bishop Buddy officially dedicated the parish to Holy Wisdom (Santa Sophia) on May 3, 1959. The title of the parish is an ancient one, going back to Greece in the days of the Roman Empire. In the city of Constantinople (Istanbul), on the same spot where Constantine, the first Christian emperor, had built a basilica two hundred years earlier, the Emperor Justinian erected a monumental church in honor of "Hagia Sophia" the Holy Wisdom, in the year 538. The title, "Hagia Sophia" or Santa Sophia, has remained popular in the Greek Orthodox Church. The title is rare, however, for Roman Catholic churches.

Santa Sophia Crucifix

Santa Sophia is unique for its central crucifix, the largest indoor crucifix in the United States. The figure of Christ is 12 feet in length and was sculpted in Italy by Roberto Caio. The corpus was carved from a huge block of wood formed from several selected timbers.

The cross is 36 feet in height and is also constructed of wood by Henry Weismann.  The crucifix gives expression to the fact that Christ is the center and focal point of the church, the People of God, and the One who calls us together.

At the rear of the church, facing the crucifix is a towering stained-glass window depicting the risen Christ. Parishioner Jerry Smith, his brother, Jim, and son, Gary, designed and constructed the stained glass, which they installed in 1988.

A little more than a year after his arrival, Msgr. Verhoeven founded Santa Sophia Academy with the enthusiastic support of Bishop Buddy and the Sisters of the Religious Order of Jesus and Mary. At first, classes were conducted in the church and the rectory. The first school building was opened after Easter in 1960. The school continued to grow over the years.

In July of 1972, Santa Sophia became one of the first parishes in the United States to accept the ministry of a permanent deacon. Bishop Leo T. Maher ordained Francis De Moor to the order of Permanent Deacon to serve the faithful at Santa Sophia Parish. Deacon Frank and his family were longtime members of the parish. Deacon Frank served the parish until 1998. (He lived in retirement in the parish area until his death in October, 2000.)

Rectory and Parish Office

Under the care of Msgr. Verhoeven many of the present day committees and organizations were founded. The original rectory housed the Sisters who served the Academy and a new rectory was built on the southwest end of the campus.

During those years, the Parish Festival grew into one of the largest such events in all of San Diego County. The 1990 visitor count for the three-day event was estimated at 70,000!

In 1982, two new school buildings, housing seven new classrooms, were built. At the same time, the original classrooms were completely refurbished and existing space was converted into meeting rooms.

In 1983, the parish hall was remodeled into a full-fledged auditorium with a stage, air-conditioning, new restrooms and a full-service kitchen.

In 1985, Santa Sophia established a preschool in a small residential house on the southeast corner of the campus.  In 2008 the Academy Preschool moved into larger, refurbished buildings next to the Rectory.

In 1992, due to staffing shortages, the Religious of Jesus and Mary, left their ministry at Santa Sophia Academy. Since then the Academy has been staffed by dedicated lay educators.

Our Vision 2000 Building Campaign was established in 1998 and for 10 years it provided for the on-going maintenance of the existing campus and the construction of new buildings to meet growing needs. 

Vision 2000 donor tree

 The interior of the church was completely refurbished; meeting rooms up-dated and all spaces used by the parish for catechetical needs of children and adults were equipped with large screen monitors and VCR's.

In April, 1999, a new educational facility housing four classrooms was dedicated for use by both Academy and Catechetical Ministry students.

In 2010, after an extensive review of our aging campus a 3-year Preserving Our Legacy Capital Campaign was offered to our parishioners.  The campaign includes plans for church, campus and education projects.As has been the case in the past, our families pledged generously and construction is continuing as funds become available.

From its founding in 1956, Santa Sophia has grown from a parish of 150 families to one of over 1600 registered families. The parish continues to serve the community of Case de Oro and the greater Spring Valley, La Mesa and El Cajon areas.

The consuming emotion of Santa Sophia is one of happiness. Happiness because the parish is a community of loving, caring People of God, dedicated to serving God and one another in and through the church! 

Msgr. Richard R. Daniels was the founding pastor. He was appointed in 1956 and passed away in 1958.

Msgr. John Verhoeven was appointed pastor on June 29, 1958.  On April 6, 1977, Msgr. Verhoeven suddenly passed away.

On July 1, 1977, Msgr. Thomas Prendergast was appointed pastor of Santa Sophia Parish.  In 1993, Msgr. Prendergast was assigned as pastor of Mission San Diego de Alcala.

Succeeding Msgr. Prendergast, was Msgr. Mark Campbell. In June of 1995, he returned to full time ministry as the Judicial Vicar for the Diocese of San Diego.

Rev. Michael Ratajczak began his tenure on August 1, 1995. In 2005 Rev. Ratajczak was assigned to St. Thomas More parish in Oceanside.

Rev. Peter M. Escalante came to Santa Sophia in July 2005.  He was reassigned to St. Joseph's Cathedral only two years later.

In August of 2007 Rev. Peter M. McGuine began his leadership at Santa Sophia and continues to guide the parish as we forge ahead in the new millennium.