Category Archives: Frankford

Food for Thought – “People Long for Spiritual Home….

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SaintJoachimRomanCatholicChurch_1 copy 2I have been researching the Archdiocese’s Parish Pastoral Process which failed the faithful in Frankford – miserably. It has taken a little over a month to put the pieces of this puzzle together. We will tell the story. We also want to save future parishes from this obviously flawed process. I came across this post on CatholicPhilly.com and found Franciscan Sister Katerina Shuth’s explanation of changes in parish life pertinent. In her lecture, “Shaping Parish Life: Ongoing Influences of Vatican II and the Catholic Common Ground Initiative“, Sister used the life of Monsignor Phillip J. Murnion to illustrate how parish life has changed from 1963 to now. Monsignor was the founding director of the National Pastoral Life Center in New York and this later became the home of the Catholic Common Ground Initiative. What hasn’t changed is what the best pastors know:

Msgr. Murnion’s efforts to envision and support vibrant parishes relied on a deep understanding of the Incarnation and a commitment to dialogue, partnership and collaboration among all levels of the church, Sister Schuth said.

Monsignor passed away in 2003. Monsignor Murnion, pray for us, as we try to find the “common ground” here in Philadelphia. Read all of the story at People Long for a Spiritual Home, an Inviting Parish, Says Franciscan Nun. 

It’s Official…

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Today we received the acknowledgement from the Apostolic Nunciature that our “recourse for St. Joachim’s Parish in Philadelphia has been forwarded through the diplomatic pouch to the Congreation for Clergy”. You really have to love the intrigue of this!

What we don’t appreciate, quite frankly, is that your voice and my voice were not involved in the Parish Pastoral Process. I appreciate that the hierarchy was involved, that our Pastors along with three representatives were involved but, and we must make it clear in the case of St. Joachim, “interested parishioners” did not receive information about this process along with the rest of the parishioners. We truly believed in this process and it turns out our faith was truly misguided.

What makes an “interested parishioner”? Was this term used because you didn’t want to tell all of us what was going on – which took us 30 days to find out that our Pastors and representatives believed that St. Joachim parishioners and Mater Dolorosa parishioners had irreconciliable differences and would not, could not find a better solution than shuttering two viable Churces? Did anyone question that 4 people may not have been fully representative of 200-300 others in the parish? Hand picking representatives doesn’t lead to a diversity of thought but commonality of beliefs. This is the same idea that my husband and I couldn’t work as caring members of the Transition Team because of our concerns about how this process was handled and the subsequent decisions made. (For the record, we still received information and shared it with our parishioners. It’s not hard. Try it.) Who was really listening? Was this process just “lip service”? Did this give you another out to blame us for your flawed process? Did you have to be selected to be an “interested parishioner”? Each of us received a letter telling us our Churches were closing. Each of us received a letter welcoming us to the “new” old Holy Innocents. Why did each of us not receive a letter informing us of the status of this process and it’s progress. It appears that to do that would have been troublesome and opened up debate.  Real debate that all “interested parishioners” could have participated in. Imagine having a discussion on the future vitality of the faith in Frankford BEFORE closing two viable Churches? Well, surely we qualify as “interested parishioners” now!

We would hope and pray that as this process moves forward these same mistakes and judgements are not repeated. We will be watching closely and offering other parishes the benefits of our woeful experience with this process to safeguard their Church from those more interested in their “process” than “parishioners”.

 

Receipt from Apostolic Nunciature

 

 

 

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.


 

Balancing the Budget on the Backs of the Poor

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You may have heard that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is closing churches.  It has been in the news of late but there has been very little follow-up except to say that people are naturally unhappy.

Frankford (a neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia with a population of about 50,000) is in a unique situation in that the two churches in the heart of Frankford, Mater Dolorosa and St. Joachim, are both being closed.  They are within a few blocks of one another and both are in the the poorest area of Frankford.  However, both of those churches are financially independent thanks to the astute financial management of their pastors, Father John Large and Father Steve Wetzel.

During the period while this issue was being studied, people in Frankford thought that the two churches would eventually have to merge.  They were prepared for that likelihood but the announcement that both would be closed was sad and puzzling.

So, naturally, they are asking a very simple question of Archbishop Charles Chaput.  Why is the Archdiocese closing two financially sound parishes and abandoning the Catholic population in Frankford?  They are being cut loose without the slightest care for the hardships the parishioners may endure as a result of this callous treatment by their Church.  Many are seniors on fixed incomes.  Some are physically disabled.  All are the faithful that have stuck with their church over these past years of scandal and shame caused by that same Archdiocese.  Now they are being treated like criminals rather than the victims of a money driven Archdiocesan Planning Committee.

So what happened to bring this about?  Father Tom Higgins, Pastor of Holy Innocents Catholic Church and Dean of Deanery 12, Lower Northeast Philadelphia, has indicated that he made a proposal to the Archdiocesan Strategic Planning Committee to close one of the Frankford parishes and merge the other into it.  He has said that he believed Frankford should retain a Catholic Church.  His proposal was rejected.

He then offered an alternate proposal to close both parishes and merge them into St. Bartholomew in Wissinoming.  That also was rejected.  The end was dictated by the Archdiocesan Planning Committee that both Churches along with another, St. Joan of Arc, would all be merged into Holy Innocents.

Well, if they did not listen to the Dean, who did they listen to?  It might have been the cash register.  We can’t say for sure but that is the only reasonable explanation for this crazy idea.  It’s like a corporate raider has taken over the Catholic Church.  The parish’s assets are worth more liquidated than operating.  Those stained glass windows in these old churches alone are of significant value.  The land and buildings, even in Frankford, are going to bring in cash.

Given that the Archdiocese is bleeding red ink, this makes it too tempting.  Why leave these working class parishes continue when their assets can be put to use supporting other favored projects, like paying off lawsuits, legal fees and making up the deficient pension system for retiring priests.

Sounds like Gordon Gecko in a Roman collar.  For their sake, let’s hope that Jesus doesn’t turn up at 222 N. 17th street any time soon.  I can’t imagine he would approve that the occupants have placed the god of money above the welfare of souls.

The Demonstration Daily – Friday, June 14, 2013!

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Happy Flag Day! We celebrate that we are able to voice our opinions! Today, 3 young visitors from Russia wanted to get a picture with Greg Minetola, an”American Protestor”! We weren’t quick enough to save this moment for posterity. So, perhaps our struggles will reach Russia!!!!!!

Here’s our Roll of Honor for the week:

Wednesday, June 12th – Janice C., Bill McG., Greg M., Kate M., Mary M., Maryanne S., Bob S., Pat S., and Ann Y.

Thursday, June 13th – Mary M. (All by her lonesome – she’s a trooper! A few others would have gone except for the threatened downpours!)

Friday, June 14th –  Brian H., David H., Shannon H., Dolores M., Greg M., Linda N., A.J., Florence S.,  Tina D., Kate M., Bob S., Pat S., Ellie S., Al S., their daughter, Kelly,  grandchildren Caithlyn, Grace and Rylie, Jackie Young

As I’ve shared with you, these demonstrating efforts do have a great effect and are a great way to share information and publicize our plight. Today, we were joined by those protesting the abuse of children by the clergy. Wanting to give them an opportunity to express their opinions, we walked over to the Basilica to demonstrate there. We thought this was much better than 222. We had less wind so we could have a display; it was sunny; we were able to reach people on the Parkway. There are a lot of tourists and many did come to the Basilica. We would be there for Mass as well. Since the Basilica is being renovated at a total cost of $25 million; it may make more sense to align our message with the Basilica – Church to Church!

Bob Smiley has been taking pictures and interviewing those who want to share “the St. Joachim Good News”! Enjoy the photos and an interview with Tina D! We are creating new spaces on our website and the text of Tina’s letter will be posted there soon.