Mary Help of Christians Church

What is their story?

Mary Help of Christians is a Catholic church in Oakland’s

Jingletown neighborhood that became a central hub for community organizing during Oakland’s Chicano Movement of the late 1960’s and 1970’s. Located on the other side of the tracks from the Fruitvale neighborhood, the Jingletown neighborhood became a place where dynamic community organizing happened during the early years of the Chicano Movement - at the center of this movement was Mary Help of Christians Church.

The church offered bilingual Spanish-English masses, the first Dia del Barrio was held at the church in 1971, the Brown Berets had their headquarters at Mary Help of Christians and the Chicano Revolutionary Party established a breakfast program there that served breakfast to children and families in Jingletown. Although no longer a center for the Chicano movement, Mary Help of Christians Church continues to be a center of community life in Jingletown.