www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News 65 Parishes Close

Dear Deacon John,

Yes you are correct, Archbishop O'Malley is not a Cardinal. It was his immediate predecessor, Cardinal Law who began the tradition of serving mass on Sundays for adherants who were 'bussed-in' for the event. The cathedral was often refered to as the Cardinal's church for this reason. The total lack of parking in the area makes this a necessary in this historic brownstone upperclass (then lower, then slum, now way way upper again) civil war era district of Boston.

According to the lengthy Boston Globe article, here is the secret to keeping your parish church open.

S A C R E M E N T S AND NOT ADHERANTS OR MONEY IN PARISH RESERVES.

The magic number (cut off point) of sacrements seemed to be around 125 per year. Sacrements are seen by the church as good indicators of where the church adherance will be in 10 or 20 years.

It would appear that churches with the lowest number of sacrements were targeted even when they were located in wealthy areas where parishoners could fund the operations of the church.

The number of parishoners did not seem to be only reason for closing a church. Some of the churches had 1,000 - 2,000 parishoners and some over 5,000. However, it was said that all of those selected were 'overall' at the lower end.

Part of the problem is also tied to Boston's exploding housing cost and massive civil engineered restructuring. This coupled with the city's new status as a high tech (bio and I.T) center has created a housing crisis.

Boston's housing costs have doubled in the last 5 years alone. A one bedroom condo in Boston, with parking on the street now costs no less than $350,000. Very simple cottages now start at $400,000 to $500,000. Middle class children and grandchildren can no longer live in the same areas where they grew up due the overwhelming cost of property. So they are being forced out to the 'outer ring' of the 'urban doughnut'. The older 'house wealthy' parents and grandparents are left behind. There is little chance that their middle class Catholic children will ever live in those inner 'doughnut' areas again. The people replacing the 'old Catholics' are from mixed marriages or often not even Christians.

The article did state that many of these churches may be converted to condos, bought by Protestant sects, or razed to build other types of buildings. The highest bidder would get the church.

The article did however blame the whole problem on the lack of priests within the church and said the next generation outlook is grim.


Hritzko

Under the current situation the decission was most likely correct. After all, less and less people attend church and the decline in vocations will sooner or later be proportional to the decline of religion in general.

The problem is when dishonesty is involved. It's sad that it's the old and beautiful churches the ones that get closed or turned into shoping malls and not the new cheap iron structures functioning as modern churches.

This is not an exclusive phenomemnon of the USA. In Europe is quite worse and the vast majority of people are atheist, non-believing, etc... and the other countries are dangerously following these steps.

The West is truly "crossing the tressholds of dispair" and sooner or later the crisis will come to us, if this has not happened yet.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

I am responding to this thread because I lived in the Archdiocese of Chicago and worked for the Archdiocese at the time of many of the church closings there.

In the neighborhood of Bridgeport, the Archdiocese closed St. David, Immaculate Conception, and the Lithuanian parish whose name is not coming to me right now. In that one neighborhood alone, that STILL left St. Barbara, St. Mary of Perpetual Help, St. Jerome, St. Lucia, All Saints/St. Anthony, and Nativity of Our Lord. Chicago was one of those places where the "ethnic" parish was the model rather than the territorial parish. When there was no longer RC population sufficient to maintain all of those churches (AND SCHOOLS), the Archdiocese decided to consolidate.

They DID NOT close anything without letting people know what was going on. There were, however, plenty of RC faithful who flat out buried their heads in the sand and ignored what was happening at the Archdiocesan level.

None of this should be about the number of temples in our individual eparchies or dioceses. In the words of Fr. Thomas Loya of the Parm Eparchy, "We are not priest-poor----we are church-building-rich."

I would be remiss if I did not suggest to every person who posts on this board that "putting the best construction on everything," and ascertaining facts before ascribing blame are both important parts of living out the Eighth Commandment.

In Christ,
(Prof.) J. Michael Thompson
Byzantine Catholic Seminary
Pittsburgh, PA

I agree with Prof. Thompson's post above with the one exception that we are indeed "priest-poor", whether Byzantine or Roman in the USA. Those statistics are well documented, and those facts already ascertained.

If anyone denies there is a general priestly shortage in the USA (certainly some dioceses like Lincoln, NE being exceptions), that would indeed be putting one's "head in the sand".

I do, however, agree that changing demographics often necessitates restructuring of parish boundaries and parishes themselves, consolidating, rebuilding, etc. A physical closure is not itself a single diagnostic of "failure".

The writing is on the walls years before a closure occurs in most cases. While they may be debated, and opposed, closures are rarely if ever surprises.

But for those living in the neighboorhood, and whose families for generations have built those parishes up, it can be a very traumatic experience.

Professor Thompson


St George was the Lithuanian Church that was closed, and since torn down. St Jerome and St Lucia are actually in Armour Square, not Bridgeport. And from the Bridgeport area, St Bridget and St John Nepomucene were also closed in addition to the ones you named. Unfortunately in some cases, churches were closed by the Diocese even when all expenses were being met. I have heard this both from priests and parishoners. In fact just this month, a former pastor from St John of God in the Back of the Yards, told me that his church was closed while it was still making ends meet without difficulty.

"Unfortunately in some cases, churches were closed by the Diocese even when all expenses were being met. I have heard this both from priests and parishoners. In fact just this month, a former pastor from St John of God in the Back of the Yards, told me that his church was closed while it was still making ends meet without difficulty."

This was not the sole yard-stick the Archdiocese of Chicago was using to determine viability for parishes, nor is it logical that it should be.

By the way: I taught at St. Jerome's Croatian in Chicago, and the people in the parish self-identify as being in Bridgeport.

(Prof.) J. Michael Thompson
Byzantine Catholic Seminary
Pittsburgh, PA

I too enthusiastically agree with Professor Thompson:

we should always interpret these things through the lens of charity. It's bad for the spirit to go through life looking up at the hierarchy with a squint.

Professor Thompson

The Railroad tracks at Stewart Street are the dividing line. West of the tracks is Bridgeport, East is Armour Square.

Pseudo-Athanasius

Some of the most beautiful Catholic Churches in Chicago have already gone the way of the wrecking ball. I see no good whatsoever coming out of it. Just more truth and beauty disappearing from our world.