Worshippers attended an outdoor mass in the rain at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday, Aug. 31 after a fire damaged the main sanctuary (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)
Hundreds of worshippers gathered under umbrellas and tents outside St. Joseph Catholic Church for noon mass Thursday after a five-alarm fire caused significant damage to the historic church’s sanctuary and roof.
Archbishop Alexander Sample of the Archdiocese of Portland came to Salem to assist with the service.
Police said the fire began around 2:30 a.m. in a dumpster on church property, spreading quickly to the roof. They determined the cause was arson and arrested a suspect, 48-year-old Billy James Sweeten.
At the service Thursday, clergy led prayers for those in need across Salem.
St. Joseph plans to continue to hold mass despite the fire, either in the parking lot or in the church’s gym. Sample said he plans to return for the Sunday mass at 11:30 a.m.
Priests pray at an outdoor mass after arson damaged the St. Joseph Catholic Church sanctuary in Salem on Thursday, Aug. 31 (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Worshippers attended an outdoor mass in the rain at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday, Aug. 31 after a fire damaged the main sanctuary (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Worshippers attended an outdoor mass in the rain at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday, Aug. 31 after a fire damaged the main sanctuary (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Worshippers attended an outdoor mass in the rain at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday, Aug. 31 after a fire damaged the main sanctuary (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Worshippers attended an outdoor mass in the rain at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday, Aug. 31 after a fire damaged the main sanctuary (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Worshippers pray at an outdoor mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday, Aug. 31 after a fire damaged the main sanctuary (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Archbishop Alexander Sample of the Archdiocese of Portland speaks at an outdoor mass after arson damaged the St. Joseph Catholic Church sanctuary in Salem on Thursday, Aug. 31 (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Worshippers attended an outdoor mass in the rain at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday, Aug. 31 after a fire damaged the main sanctuary (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Worshippers attended an outdoor mass in the rain at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday, Aug. 31 after a fire damaged the main sanctuary (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Priests led an outdoor mass after arson damaged the St. Joseph Catholic Church sanctuary in Salem on Thursday, Aug. 31 (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Archbishop Alexander Sample of the Archdiocese of Portland speaks at an outdoor mass after arson damaged the St. Joseph Catholic Church sanctuary in Salem on Thursday, Aug. 31 (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Worshippers attended an outdoor mass in the rain at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday, Aug. 31 after a fire damaged the main sanctuary (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Worshippers attended an outdoor mass in the rain at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday, Aug. 31 after a fire damaged the main sanctuary (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)A nun prays at an outdoor mass after arson damaged the St. Joseph Catholic Church sanctuary in Salem on Thursday, Aug. 31 (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Archbishop Alexander Sample of the Archdiocese of Portland blesses a worshipper at an outdoor mass after arson damaged the St. Joseph Catholic Church sanctuary in Salem on Thursday, Aug. 31 (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Worshippers attended an outdoor mass in the rain at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday, Aug. 31 after a fire damaged the main sanctuary (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Brian Carrera, Salem Fire Department’s deputy chief of administrative services, and Salem City Manager Keith Stahley enter St. Joseph Church on Aug. 31, after a fire burned through the roof (Abbey McDonald/Salem Reporter)Salem firefighters sit in the pews of St. Joseph Church the morning of a fire that destroyed a portion of the roof in the early morning of Thursday, Aug. 31 (Abbey McDonald/Salem Reporter)Fire crews gather at the scene of a five-alarm fire at St. Joseph Parish in central Salem on Thursday, Aug. 31 (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Salem firefighters inspect the damage left by a five-alarm fire on Thursday, Aug. 31, at St. Joseph Parish in downtown Salem. (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Greg Bolt, left, a pastor at Salem First Presbyterian, offers to help Rev. Jeffrey Meeuwsen (right) of St. Joseph Parish in whatever form his church needs (Laura Tesler/Special to Salem Reporter)Fire burns through St. Joseph Parish on Thursday, Aug. 31, in downtown Salem. (Brian Carrara/Salem Fire Department)
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Photographer Ron Cooper and his wife Penny moved to Salem in 1969 to take a job as photographer at the Oregon Statesman (later the Statesman Journal). Their three children, Monica, Kimberly, and Christopher, attended and graduated from Salem public schools. Cooper retired from the Statesman Journal in 2001 but, has continued his passion for photography in many ways, including as a photographer for the Salem Reporter.
Laura Tesler has lived in Salem, Oregon for 20 years and is originally from Flint, MI. Laura has been an underwater photographer for 15 years, and is an avid scuba diver. Topside, she has been taking photographs since age 12, and currently works on assignment for the Salem Reporter, and full time purchasing land for fish and wildlife habitat in the Willamette Valley. Laura attended Oregon State University, and has traveled extensively all over the world and the United States.
