St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church - Riverside (CA)

5 /5 Genevieve Gamboa: This is a wonderful church with very nice, friendly people. If you are looking for a new church look no further. They also have projectors during mass so that you can relax and fully participate a little easier. St. Paul the Apostle in Chino Hills also does this and it makes a huge positive difference.

5 /5 Patty Johnson: The Lenten reconciliation service was well organized. I felt welcomed and at home.

5 /5 Alex Padilla: Beautiful Catholic Church Father Ted is a great pastor/farther

1 /5 Itzyourboi_sean: Came here for a confession. Left in tears after being judged and rushed by the priest. Dont come here. Please go somewhere else if you seek solace in your life. Told me to hurry up, are you done, I cant hear you. (I spoke up for him) if I was done, to stop talking, rushed me. I couldnt say anything. I feel hurt. My faith is hurt. Wouldn’t stop yelling at me, judging me, hitting the wall between us violently. NEVER COME HERE. Father Celestine should be fired and stripped of his title of priest.

1 /5 Jose: SB Diocese, SB Diocese, Why have you forsaken us? I echo the sentiments Jesus last spoke as he was crucified by his people in response to how the Diocese of San Bernardino has foresaken its people in Riverside, Ca. A cornerstone of the work of Vatican II was to understand the Church’s need to celebrate Mass in the language of the local congregation to appropriately and effectively “get closer to the people of God so that they could understand well what it does, and this is important for us” Pope Francis, 2015. St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Riverside, CA has a Parochial Vicar- Celestine Afugwobi who fails at bringing the Word of God to our community. He is unable to effectively communicate in either in English or Spanish to be able to share the Good News. He leaves our community to the time prior to Vatican II where God’s people did not understand the language of the Sacraments being celebrated. This is a huge disservice to his flock. Besides being unintelligible, Celestine’s primary focus is evident: his hometown and his people back in his home country. Celestine does not promote the well-being or development of his community in Riverside but rather capitalizes on ways to extract funding and resources from his home community to take back to his home country. We need a priest focused on improving and developing our community, not one looking to exploit us for the benefit of his friends and family back at home.