C
CatholicNerd
Guest
The parish where I played yesterday afternoon really disturbs me. There are several reasons why I chose not to make it my home parish, and I’m sure I’ve mentioned them all on various sections of the forum… well there’s another reason. One that I think warrants writing my bishop about. The parish priest has been on a drive to raise 3 million dollars to build a “parish activity/social center” They’re halfway there apparently, and before Mass ended the priest stood up and make another urgen plea for money saying “we need to enhance the beauty and worship of our parish community. Remember that not all fellowship and worship takes place in this building alone and we need to provide for the needs of our children and their children’s children…”
Not only was the comment about worship a little frightening, the sanctuary is a giant white round thing with a white block of granite for an altar. Oh, and there’s hideous orange carpet. There is no crucifix, no tabernacle (it’s tucked away in a side room), the stations of the cross are tiny brown crosses with numbers on them, and there’s a really tacky holy water fountain also made of white granite. That’s it. Unless one were to wander down a long corridor and find the adoration chapel, one would not know that it was a Catholic church. Or a church of any kind, really.
It’s honestly that bad. A bunch of my friends (from that parish and the diocese at large) are wondering… why isn’t the priest willing to use the 3 million dollars to make the church look like a Catholic church!!! He wants a social center thinking it’ll boost numbers and help keep kids in the Church (the parish is notorious for losing kids and young adults to nearby protestant churches that look more like Catholic churches than this Catholic church does) and that’s just not going to do it!!! The people of that parish should have their money go to a cause they want it to go to. It’s the largest parish in the diocese (would have been made the Cathedral except it’s on the far eastern edge of the diocese), and they are ALWAYS raising money for some improvement project and ignoring the church building itself. I wonder if the bishop is even aware that the priest at one of the largest and most influential parishes in his diocese is squandering money. Should I write him or leave it to people within the parish?
Not only was the comment about worship a little frightening, the sanctuary is a giant white round thing with a white block of granite for an altar. Oh, and there’s hideous orange carpet. There is no crucifix, no tabernacle (it’s tucked away in a side room), the stations of the cross are tiny brown crosses with numbers on them, and there’s a really tacky holy water fountain also made of white granite. That’s it. Unless one were to wander down a long corridor and find the adoration chapel, one would not know that it was a Catholic church. Or a church of any kind, really.
It’s honestly that bad. A bunch of my friends (from that parish and the diocese at large) are wondering… why isn’t the priest willing to use the 3 million dollars to make the church look like a Catholic church!!! He wants a social center thinking it’ll boost numbers and help keep kids in the Church (the parish is notorious for losing kids and young adults to nearby protestant churches that look more like Catholic churches than this Catholic church does) and that’s just not going to do it!!! The people of that parish should have their money go to a cause they want it to go to. It’s the largest parish in the diocese (would have been made the Cathedral except it’s on the far eastern edge of the diocese), and they are ALWAYS raising money for some improvement project and ignoring the church building itself. I wonder if the bishop is even aware that the priest at one of the largest and most influential parishes in his diocese is squandering money. Should I write him or leave it to people within the parish?
