BishopAccountability.org
	Parishioners Come Home Empty-Handed By Jill Whalen Standard Speaker June 25, 2008 http://www.standardspeaker.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7737&Itemid=2 A contingent of parishioners from the McAdoo area didn't get what they were looking for Tuesday from the Allentown Diocese. About 15 individuals from six McAdoo-area churches facing consolidation hoped to meet with the Rev. Monsignor David James to obtain a copy of the building study used to determine which church would remain open after the planned merger. Vicki Gennaro, a parishioner who made the hour-long trip, said there are concerns about the condition of St. Patrick's Church in McAdoo — the church chosen to house the mixed congregations. When the group arrived, Gennaro said a diocese secretary told her James was unavailable. "We had called Rev. Monsignor James' office several times last week," Gennaro said. "They were aware that we were planning to come down." When the group was unable to meet with James, Gennaro said she asked for a copy of the study. That request was denied, too. Matt Kerr, a spokesman for the diocese, said James was not in the office Tuesday but said he had a "long conversation" with one of the group members earlier in the day. Gennaro said that conversation produced no answers. As for the building study, Kerr said, "I don't know that that's a public document" because it was commissioned by the Deanery Region Committee. In light of Tuesday's developments, Gennaro said she is becoming suspicious. "We almost didn't expect to meet with anyone," she said. "But we surely thought we'd get a copy of the report." After all, she said, church officials told area parishioners that they'd be informed of new developments. The congregations of St. Kunegunda's, St. Patrick's and St. Mary's, all in McAdoo; Immaculate Conception, Kelayres; and St. Michael's and St. Bartholomew's, both in Tresckow, will eventually merge into what will be known as All Saints Parish. The "new" church will be housed in St. Patrick's. "We paid for these reports," she said. "We want to see these reports. We've been asking for them since February. We sent certified letters. We requested them face to face. We've done everything — phone calls, you name it. We just want to see the building studies." Church members, Gennaro said, also want to know the name of the independent engineering firm that the deanery hired to complete the study. In the meantime, the churches set to merge have filed appeals to the diocese to keep their doors open. "This thing is a nightmare," Gennaro said. Contact: jwhalen@standardspeaker.com
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