A Bilingual Catholic Parish on East Presidio
St. Frances Cabrini - Our Lady of Lavang Catholic Church sits on East Presidio Road in central Tucson, Arizona, where bilingual Masses in Vietnamese and English, a small parochial school of faith, and an active Society of St. Vincent de Paul conference shape the rhythm of parish life. About 600 households are registered with the parish, and the community grew out of a canonical amalgamation between the long-established St. Frances Cabrini parish and the Vietnamese Catholic community of Our Lady of La Vang. The parish motto, drawn from the writings of its patroness, is "I can do all things in God who strengthens me," and its wider tagline is "Bring the love of Christ to light."
Mass in Vietnamese and English
The parish celebrates a Vietnamese-language Mass each Saturday at 7:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. The Saturday evening Mass, when parish religious education classes are in session, takes the form of a bilingual English and Vietnamese Youth Mass; at other times it is celebrated in Vietnamese. On Sundays, Mass is offered in Vietnamese at 8:30 a.m. and in English at 10:30 a.m. A daily Mass in Vietnamese is celebrated Monday through Friday at 6:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome at any Mass. Holy Day schedules are listed in the current bulletin.
Reconciliation (Confession) is heard on Saturday from 7:00 to 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 to 6:00 p.m., and on Sunday from 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to noon, or by appointment. To find Mass times when traveling, the parish points visitors to CatholicMassTime.org.
The Seven Sacraments
Parish sacramental life is built around the seven Catholic sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist as sacraments of initiation; Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick as sacraments of healing; and Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders as sacraments of service. Parents are asked to contact the parish office before the birth of a child to begin Infant Baptism preparation, while adults seeking Baptism join the OCIA process. First Eucharist and First Reconciliation are prepared through the family religious education program, with youth Confirmation conferred after a period of preparation that includes sponsor participation. Adult Confirmation is taught by Deacon Charles Gallegos. The Anointing of the Sick is offered to anyone who is chronically ill or anticipating surgery, and by request to those who are homebound. Couples preparing for marriage are asked to meet with the pastor at least six months before the wedding date, and the parish welcomes anyone discerning a call to Holy Orders or to religious life.
From Chapel of Ease to Amalgamated Parish
The present parish traces its roots to 1959, when the St. Frances Cabrini Church and education buildings were constructed as a Chapel of Ease and extra classrooms for Saints Peter and Paul Parish. A community grew up around the chapel, and Father James T. Weber was named the first pastor in 1961. He lived in a room inside the Education Building until the rectory and parish office were built in 1966. Parish volunteers built the recreational ramada in 1974, and a Parish Hall followed in 1982.
Monsignor Weber retired in 1987, and Monsignor Robert Fuller, soon known to everyone as Father Bob, became pastor. The former director of Renew International, Father Bob inspired many parishioners to form small faith-sharing groups, and his homilies became a hallmark of the parish. Three volumes of his Homilies from the Heart have been published, and recordings of his sermons are available on his YouTube channel. He retired in 2018 after more than thirty years of service to the parish, and the community gathered on June 3, 2018, for an open house honoring his ministry.
Reverend Jens-Peter (Jay) Jensen, Jr. succeeded Father Bob in June 2018. Ordained in 2001 in the Diocese of Colorado Springs, Father Jay came to the Diocese of Tucson in 2008 and was described by the parish as committed to continuing the legacy of sharing the faith in a humble, relatable manner. Today the pastor is Fr. Dominic Hao Pham, C.S.s.R., a Redemptorist, and Fr. Albert Schifano presides at the English-language Masses. In October 2021, Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger signed the formal decree combining St. Frances Cabrini with the Vietnamese Catholic community of Our Lady of La Vang, effective December 6, 2021. The combined parish now carries the name St. Frances Cabrini - Our Lady of Lavang Catholic Church.
The Church Building and Its Art
The church was remodeled to its present configuration in 1992. A beautiful crucifix hangs above the altar, and contemporary stained-glass windows designed by artist Maureen McGuire were installed at the same time. Their soft, southwestern colors and hopeful imagery give the worship space the welcoming character that the parish describes as expressive of its spirit. The Education Building, the Rectory/Parish Office, the ramada, and the Parish Hall all support the daily life of the parish.
The Patroness: St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
The patroness, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, was the youngest of thirteen children born in a small Italian village. She founded the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1880 with seven young women and, at the request of Pope Leo XIII, went to New York to serve Italian immigrants rather than to China as originally planned. During her lifetime she founded sixty-seven missions, including schools, hospitals, orphanages, and child-care centers, in the United States and abroad. She died in Chicago in 1917, was beatified in 1938, and was canonized on July 7, 1946. Her feast day is November 13. The parish describes her as an ordinary, fragile woman transformed by a powerful, personal experience of God's love, writing that her life symbolized the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to which she had a deep devotion.
Faith Formation from Atrium to Adulthood
The parish's catechetical mission is to give adults, youth, and children the knowledge, experience, and skills they need to become faithful, fruitful disciples of Jesus Christ. A Director of Religious Education Programs, Binh Ly, oversees the work, with faith formation offerings that include Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Family Religious Education, Youth Ministry, Adult OCIA, Bible Study, and School Tutoring.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a Montessori-based program for children ages 3 to 6, held in a hands-on space called the atrium where children work with replicas of sacred items used in the celebration of the Mass. Sessions run from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Sundays, allowing families to attend the 10:30 a.m. Mass while their child explores elements of the Catholic faith at their level of understanding.
Family Religious Education serves children ages 7 to 13 and prepares them for First Reconciliation, First Eucharist, and Confirmation. The 2026-2027 schedule moves Sunday classes to Saturday afternoons, with Vietnamese language classes, religious education classes, atrium sessions, and the new Vietnamese Eucharist Youth Movement (VEYM) all running before the Saturday 6:00 p.m. Mass.
Youth Ministry is designed for grades 9 through 12 and is meant to be an integrated process of faith formation, community, catechesis, personal development, and service. Sessions typically meet most Sundays during the school year from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Adult Religious Education through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA, formerly RCIA) is led by Deacon Charles Gallegos. Adults 18 and older who were never baptized, baptized as infants without further instruction, or baptized in another Christian tradition are welcome. Classes meet on Thursday evenings from late August through Easter, when the bishop confers the sacraments on catechumens and candidates.
Bible Study and Reflection is a group that meets on a recurring basis throughout the year, generally on the second and fourth Mondays of each month from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. in Room 8. Each session lasts three to four months and alternates between gospel reading and topical materials.
School Tutoring is offered free of charge on most Wednesdays during the school year beginning at 6 p.m. The tutoring covers math, science, language arts, social studies, and most other subjects, and is open to anyone needing help.
Music and Liturgical Ministry
Music at the Sunday 8:30 a.m. Vietnamese-language Mass is provided by longtime members of the Our Lady of La Vang congregation. At the Sunday 10:30 a.m. English-language Mass, an ensemble of former full choir and folk group members leads the assembly. Choir directors include Vivyan Vu, who leads Ca Đoàn Thánh Tâm, and Angeline Vu, who leads Ca Đoàn Đức Mẹ Lavang (Life Teens). The parish cherishes the words of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy that "the musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art." The English-language choir has a long history, from its founding director Helen Kennedy and her Cabrini Carousels variety shows, through Dr. Rosella Duerksen and Russell Ronnebaum, to Michelle Perrier, who took up the baton in August 2017 and leads the choir in traditional classical music along with some folk music.
A robust Liturgical Ministry program invites parishioners to share their gifts as Lector/Commentator, Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, Hospitality Minister, or Altar Server. Extraordinary Ministers may also bring the Eucharist to homebound parishioners. Lectors are typically signed up in September, and Hospitality Ministers stand near each door of the church to welcome worshippers. The parish notes that Extraordinary Ministers must meet diocesan guidelines as "mature Catholics respected in the Parish community who are noted for their devotion to the Eucharist and their service to the parish," and that those who visit the homebound complete a more extensive application including a background check.
Reaching Out in the Neighborhood
A Society of St. Vincent de Paul conference, the Cabrini Conference, provides person-to-person assistance to neighbors in need within the parish boundaries, including spiritual direction, food, rent, utilities, clothing, furniture, and referrals to other social service agencies. Help is provided through home visits, not through an office; to request assistance, parishioners can call 520-881-3075 between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. on weekdays. Blue barrels are set out on the first and third Sundays of each month for donations of canned goods and other non-perishable items, and shoppers at Fry's can direct community rewards to the Cabrini Conference by its organization number 80310. The Tucson Diocesan Council operates two thrift stores in support of this work, at 820 South Sixth Avenue at 18th Street and at 5426 East Pima at Craycroft.
Cafe Justo, or Just Coffee, has been a parish ministry in support of a coffee cooperative in Chiapas and Agua Prieta, Mexico. Coffee is sold at a fair-trade-plus price so that farmers, rather than middlemen, make a fair profit, and a portion of the small profit generated is sent each year to a charity that supports the working poor. While the parish notes that the formal Just Coffee program is not currently active, a parishioner still distributes the coffee. Special orders can be placed through cafejustocabrini@gmail.com.
Small Faith Communities, a parish tradition since the Father Bob era, bring together eight to ten parishioners who meet once a month in homes or at the parish to pray, read, and reflect on the upcoming Sunday's scripture readings or on topical materials. Third Sunday Coffee and Donuts invites the community to share refreshments after Mass on the third Sunday of each month. The Care and Share Ministry, which for many years organized receptions after funerals in the Parish Hall or Room 5 of the Education Building, is not currently active but is documented as a longstanding ministry of compassion. The Craft and Sewing Group, which made items for those served by Reachout Women's Center, is also not currently active. The pastor and lay ministers of caring visit the ill and handicapped members of the parish in hospitals, nursing homes, or in their own homes, and a priest or Eucharistic Minister can bring the Eucharist to the homebound by arrangement with the parish office.
Leadership, Stewardship, and Safe Environment
Parish governance rests with a Parish Pastoral Council chaired by Jeannette Hopkins, a Parish Finance Committee chaired by John Brady, and a Corporate Board chaired by David Finerson. The Parish Council typically meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m., and meetings are open to all members of the parish. Stewardship is rooted in the scriptural call to give from the heart, freely and cheerfully. Online giving is available through the parish's Mobile Cause portal at app.mobilecause.com. The Arizona Charitable Tax Credit program allows parishioners to support organizations like Catholic Community Services and Reachout Women's Center with a dollar-for-dollar credit against Arizona state income tax, up to $800 for married couples filing jointly and $400 for individuals.
The parish operates a Safe Environment Program in cooperation with the Diocese of Tucson, screening all volunteers who work with children and vulnerable adults through an application, fingerprinting, and training process. Anyone with a concern about the safety of children or vulnerable adults is encouraged to contact the parish office.
Visiting St. Frances Cabrini - Our Lady of Lavang
The rectory office is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Visitors can reach the parish at (520) 326-7670 or by email at cabrini1962@aol.com. The address is 3201 East Presidio Road, Tucson, Arizona 85716. New parishioners are warmly invited to register, and printed registration forms are available in the church foyer. As the parish staff writes, "I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know Him or have forgotten Him," a saying of St. Frances Cabrini that captures the spirit of a parish committed to bringing the love of Christ to light in Tucson.