Author Archives: Robert Smiley

Archdiocesan Land in Bucks County to Go to Auction

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The 48-acre parcel, shaped like a smoker’s pipe, once was viewed as a solution to a rapidly expanding Catholic-school population. Not so long ago, it may have been a coveted site for homebuilders.
The archdiocese bought the land in 1964 in anticipation of growth such as a school or parish, according to a news release from Max Spann Real Estate & Auction Co., in charge of the sale. But, almost 50 years later, the archdiocesan school population is contracting, not growing.
The sale would help reduce the archdiocese’s budget deficit, which results in parts from lawsuits, investment losses, and bad loans to some parishes. Church attendance and Catholic-school enrollment also have fallen, leading the archdiocese to merge parishes and close schools.

Eulogy for a Church

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From the DeSales Weekly:

We see Jesus in each other.
We see Jesus in the poor.
We see Jesus in the struggling addict.
We see Jesus in the one just released from prison.

  When Fr. Steve Wetzel, OSFS, used these words in the homily of the last Mass at his inner-city Philadelphia parish, St. Joachim, he described a people. A community. The People of God.

Since 1845, these holy people faithfully prayed, served, taught, learned, fed, worshipped, healed, and gathered. The dynamics of urban life and shifts in Catholic communities prompted the leaders of the Archdiocese to close St. Joachim and ask its parishioners to join another community, Holy Innocents.

Read the entire story at this link.

Guest Opinon on the Closing of the Philadelphia Catholic Churches

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By Joe Menkevich

July 03, 2013
Notes/Opinion on the closing Philadelphia Churches
With the stroke of a pen, Bishop Chaput in an instant, managed to complete what could not be accomplished in 300 years – which was to purge the Catholics from Philadelphia.
In 1683 William Penn welcomed Catholics who suffered religious persecution in England.
The Catholic Church in America was a mission, it was not a business.
In Philadelphia, 1707/08 Mass was being “set up” and “read publicly.”
There was no regular appointed pastor in Philadelphia until 1720, and no priest until much latter. “Roman Catholics were as scarce as comets.”
However the Catholic Church flourished right through the Anti-Irish Riots of 1844. In those Riots, the Protestants were burning Philadelphia Catholic Churches.
To the Catholics of the City and County of Philadelphia.
 
BELOVED CHILDREN— In the critical circumstances in which you are placed, I feel it my duty to suspend the exercise of public worship in the Catholic churches which still remain, until it may be resumed with safety, and we can enjoy our constitutional right to worship God according to the dictates of our conscience. I earnestly conjure you to practise unalterable patience under the trials which it has pleased Divine Providence to subject you, and remember that afflictions will serve to purify us, and render us acceptable to God, through Jesus Christ, who patiently suffered the cross.
 
FRANCIS PATRICK,
Bishop of Philadelphia.
Philadelphia, May 9th, 1844.
Joe Menkevich is a local historical researcher.
You can read a great history of the Catholic Church in Philadelphia at this link.  There is a good view of the time period when St. Joachim was founded.  It was written over 100 years ago and I don’t think the writer could have imagined that the Church would, someday in the future, abandon the city.

Bishop Richard Lennon Has His Revenge

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A case quite similar to what is going on in Philadelphia unfolded last year in Cleveland.  Some of the churches appealed and won and had to be reopened much to the chagrin of Bishop Richard Lennon.

The Rev. Bob Begin of St. Coleman’s lead that fight and actually criticized the Bishop.  Since he turned 75 this year he had to submit his resignation.  The Bishop took him up on the offer and accepted it.  The Rev. is ready and willing to continue at St. Coleman’s and the people want him.

Bishop Lennon does not seem to care to much what the people want.  He wants Begin out.  You can read all of the story here and maybe sign that online petition.  We’re all in this together now.

Balancing the Budget by Selling Our Church

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More grim disclosures today explaining the financial plight of the Archdiocese.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia on Wednesday reported a staggering $39.2 million loss for the year ended June 30, 2012, while disclosing unprecedented details about longterm financial deficits totaling $350 million. Even after stripping away millions in unusual expenses, including $11.9 million for legal and professional services related to the priest sex-abuse scandal and other issues, the archdiocese said its cash expenses 2012 still exceeded revenue by $17.4 million. “It’s not so simple to say our problems are related to the sexual-abuse crisis,” Timothy O’Shaughnessy, chief financial officer for the archdiocese, said. “That is a serious issue, a very serious issue that I believe the church is taking more seriously now. “We’ve also had serious financial problems independent of the abuse crisis,” said O’Shaughnessy, who became CFO in April 2012.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20130704_Archdiocese_report_unveils_huge_financial_concerns.html#QOOxpzzOO9mXyB7M.99

Coverage from the Northeast Times

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Three Northeast churches have their last Masses. 

The bells beckoning parishioners to worship rang for the final time at the 10:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday outside St. Joachim Roman Catholic Church in Frankford.

Inside, about 500 people crowded into the pews for the last Mass at the oldest Catholic church in the Northeast. St. Joachim opened in 1845 and, like two other churches in Northeast Philly, was told in May that it would have to close because of declines in weekend Mass attendance, marriages and baptisms.

Parishioners at St. Joachim are fighting to keep their church alive, promising to take their campaign all the way to the Vatican. But at Frankford’s only other Roman Catholic church, Mater Dolorosa, it’s a different story. Parishioners have decided to accept the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s decision to close the church  as of Sunday.

Follow this link for the rest of the story.

Last Demonstration in June at Archdiocesan Headquarters

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We have been successful in having a demonstration on almost every work day in June.  We reached a huge number of people just by being present on that sidewalk.  The video below is a look at what its like on an average day.  The people vary from day to day but the message remains the same. We’re ready for the long haul ahead.

The folks inside the building may think it all will end next week.  Well this is really just the end of the beginning.  Now we move into the serious job of correcting the wrong that has been done.  The process was flawed and that resulted in a bad decision.

Keep the Faith in Frankford.