Closing a parish

[Pax_Vobiscum_57]

It’s always a sad thing, but is so magnified when you are present at the last Mass, when the Blessed Sacrament is removed from the church and the priest puts out the sancutary light, and when the bishop pronounces the parish “closed,” the sorrow is breathtaking. I was at the final Mass at St. John Cantius in Detroit yesterday. Here are a couple of links. More of the legacy of Coleman A. Young, Jr.

detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007710260378

detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007710290301

detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007710290343

 

[Sarabande]

I am so sorry to hear about this. It is so true when people say that a part of your family has gone away when a beloved church closes. I felt that way as well. There is an emptiness which will be hard to fill again.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

We just got word that my dioceses is sending out teams to evaluate parishes, to assess the needs and issues of parishes that are in crises.

My guess is that within 6 months, we’ll be getting word of parish closings.

I think people are going to be shocked when they find out which parishes will be closing and which one’s will remain.

Jim

 

[YADA]

I am truly saddened every time a church closes especially when that is when many people realize how important the local church is…

I do not know the particulars of this closing. In my diocese financial problems and lack of attendance are the most common causes…

What is our response to our parish needs and existancce in these areas…?

I have heard all of the following [even here at CAF]

Finances:
Like the parishioners who hated it when the “priest spent all his time asking for money”

or how about this one?..they “wanted to know if I used envelopes before baptizing my child! they should not be selling sacraments…!”

and then this one… “What I give is strictly between me and God!”

And this…“We live pay check to pay check and give what we can, when we can…”

And “They used to have the “prayer support” box on the pledge cards…but it is gone…Now all they want is money…”

I have read all of these kinds of comments in the Forums here…

Attendance and registering:
The second reason is lack of attendance by members and failure to register…

“What…go to mass every Sunday?”

or this “But we have soccer [baseball, footbal, etc] games, vacationing, too tired, too many other activities…”

or this " the kids say it is too boring"

or this “Why go… all Father ever does is talk about money”

or “we used to have this really cool priest…he hot transfered…they new priest to too old [too distant, unfriendly, too liberal or too conservative]” …at least he is too something!

And this one…I hate to go they sing too much [or too little, too loud, too soft, too modern, too old fashioned] …

“Register?. Why, so they can send me the envelopes and track whether I go to church?”

I do not want to register, then they call you for volunteering and contributions…we don’t have time nor money"

 

[JimR-OCDS]

When they do start closing parishes, I can almost predict which one’s they’ll close, based on the following criteria;

Is the church accessible to the majority, especially the poor who do not drive. The Bishop won’t isolate people, because of lack of transportation.

Does the parish property have a good real-estate value. You can sell a modern style church easier than a cathedral style church, and often the modern style church is located in a better area.

When the Boston Archdioceses began closing parishes a couple years ago, this seemed to be the criteria they were using. People living in upscale communities with parishes that were economically in the black, were shocked to learn their parish was on the chopping block.

Jim

 

[anamchara]

It is always so sad to see this. I wonder if this will happen here.

I think this story points very well why this happens to these beautiful old parishes.

Membership dwindled as the neighborhood – between West Jefferson and West Ford, near Zug Island – gave way to industrial expansion.

Interstate 75 entered in the 1960s. To comply with the U.S. Clean Water Act the next decade, the city expanded its sewage treatment plant after purchasing and demolishing nearby homes, groceries and other structures. It now surrounds the church on two sides.“It destroyed the neighborhood,” Zaorski said. St. John Cantius also was slated to be removed, but parishioners, the then-Rev. Edwin Szczygiel and City Council allies such as Jack Kelley and former Detroit Tiger Billy Rogell prevailed. Still, the church was affected. As homes vanished and industry sandwiched St. John Cantius between wire fences and train tracks, families relocated to suburbs and other areas.

Bold is mine.

I know this all too well. Our town down area was so beautiful at one time. They are making improvements and luckily our cathedral is going strong. Families did eventually relocate into the suburbs here after the freeways came in and various other things.

 

[WanderAimlessly]

Here in Southfield, the 4 non-ethnic parish (We also have Albanian and Lithuanian parishes) combined into 1 parish this past June. The combined parish’s name was changed. Of the 3 other sites, one was taken over by the Albanian parish (they needed a larger building) and a second one was taken over by one of the Eastern Catholic rites (I forget which one).

 

[anamchara]

When they do start closing parishes, I can almost predict which one’s they’ll close, based on the following criteria;

Is the church accessible to the majority, especially the poor who do not drive. The Bishop won’t isolate people, because of lack of transportation.

Does the parish property have a good real-estate value. You can sell a modern style church easier than a cathedral style church, and often the modern style church is located in a better area.

When the Boston Archdioceses began closing parishes a couple years ago, this seemed to be the criteria they were using. People living in upscale communities with parishes that were economically in the black, were shocked to learn their parish was on the chopping block.

Jim

wow, really? This is interesting. I do wonder if they are doing that here.

 

[Sarabande]

wow, really? This is interesting. I do wonder if they are doing that here.

That is interesting. When they started closing the parishes in my diocese, they were mostly the city parishes where many of the Catholics had left to move out to the suburbs. So a lot of the beautiful, old parishes were closed down, combined, sold and some torn down. But there were some parishes where they still had a fair number of parishioners in the city that they still closed down. Those poorer, elderly people couldn’t walk to church anymore. I don’t know what they did after that. Seemed unfair, yet, I didn’t know the financial situation and how they came to those decisions.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

It might have a lot to do with how the Bishop looks at things.

Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley, is a Franciscan, who took a vow of poverty, unlike all his predecessors.

Heck, his first act when he became Bishop, was to sell the Bishop’s mansion and move into an apartment in South Boston.

Jim

 

[brittrossiter]

Roman rite parishes are closing here in the Cleveland, Ohio Diocese as well. The parishes here have been clustered and several of the clusters have been told to identify one or more parishes for closure.

St. Peter, a beautiful cathedral-style church just east of downtown, announced about two weeks ago that it will be closing. St. Paul Shrine near Cleveland State University is also closing as a parish but will remain open for masses courtesy of some resident priests. Several of the Tremont area churches just south of downtown are also believed to be on the chopping block.

In my neighborhood (south suburbs), the “cluster” has not (yet) been ordered to close a parish but several of the ancillary services (most notably the elementary schools) have already been consolidated.

Sad times.

 

[lak611]

I was at the final Mass at St. Wenceslaus parish in Maple Hts., OH, yesterday. The parish had been in existence for 85 years. The demographics of the neighbourhood changed. The young people moved out the of parish and neighbourhood, leaving only the older people who did not move (many of them moved too). People who moved into the neighbourhood were not Catholic. The parish had only one baptism in the past five years and averaged three funerals a week. The school had been closed and the building was falling into disrepair after several failed fundraising campaigns (nobody left to raise the funds). Bishop Lennon celebrated the final Mass. The KofC were there for the procession, wearing their fancy uniforms, hats and swords. I was talking to a parishioner who said that the buildings will probably be torn down for senior apartments, but that may not happen, as Maple Hts. is experiencing a housing crisis right now and leading the county in foreclosures. The parish was not merged, just closed. Sacramental records were transferred to the Diocese for archiving. Parishioners who did remain were sent invitations from other neighbourhood parishes. Many of the people who are left will probably be unable to attend church, as they are primarily older widows who do not drive. The last Mass was very nice. I do not have any pictures, since I do not own a digital camera.

 

[anamchara]

It might have a lot to do with how the Bishop looks at things.

Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley, is a Franciscan, who took a vow of poverty, unlike all his predecessors.

Heck, his first act when he became Bishop, was to sell the Bishop’s mansion and move into an apartment in South Boston.

Jim

:clapping:

what a wonderful Bishop.

 

[chicago]

We’ve just been through a similar experience here in Chicago, where the renowned and legendary high school seminary I attended was shuttered, destroying the “home” of those who were related to the institution and raping the city and archdiocese not only of a wonderful work of art intended to last for the ages but a testament to faith and the importance of priesthood which was an astounding evangelical witness in the midst of a secularized world.

I do find it ironic that so many parishes get shuttered when life is somewhat cyclical. While it might be understandable when parishes which were constructed in close proximity by individual immigrant groups years ago need to be merged, others which are sold off because of changing demographic patterns may well be in areas which will revive only a few short years of decades later. At which time the Church will need to spend much money rebuilding what was lost.