Church Review Nearly Ready For Your Complete Guide to the Ongoing Church Closure Issue, Visit Courierpostonline.com/churchclose, by Jim Walsh, Courier-Post, July 29, 2008

Church Review Nearly Ready
For Your Complete Guide to the Ongoing Church Closure Issue, Visit Courierpostonline.com/churchclose

By Jim Walsh
Courier-Post
July 29, 2008

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080729/NEWS01/807290364/1006/news01

A review of facilities at two Catholic churches, announced in May after parishioners protested a planned merger, is near completion, according to the Diocese of Camden.

St. Vincent Pallotti Church in Haddon Township (above) and St. Aloysius in Oaklyn are nearing the completion of a facility review before a pending merger would take place. A specific aspect under review is accessibility to the handicapped.
Photo by Denise Henhoeffer

A diocesan spokesman on Monday declined to indicate if any changes would result from the review. But members of St. Vincent Pallotti parish in Haddon Township said they're hoping for revisions to a pending merger with St. Aloysius parish in Oaklyn.

Bishop Joseph Galante in April announced plans to combine the two parishes as part of a sweeping reconfiguration of the local diocese. Galante said then that St. Aloysius would be the primary worship center for the combined parish, upsetting members of St. Vincent Pallotti.

Among other objections, members of the Haddon Township parish said their church has superior accommodations for people with disabilities.

"He needs to keep St. Vincent Pallotti as a primary worship center because there are so many disabled people, and I'm one of them," said April Baker, a Haddon Township woman who sustained a spinal cord injury.

Galante in May said an independent committee would review concerns about access for parishioners with disabilities at the two churches.

"The committee completed its review last month," Galante said in a letter read to members of the two parishes over the weekend. The bishop said he's reviewed the panel's report with multiple diocesan officials, and that he will receive feedback at a meeting this week with the Presbyteral Council, a body of about 30 priests.

"Once I have had the benefit of this consultation, I will report back to you and the people of your parish on the results of this review," the bishop said in his letter.

Andrew Walton, a spokesman for the diocese, gave no timeline for the bishop's decision.

"This review is specifically related to the matter of facilities," he noted. "Bishop Galante has tried to acknowledge the concerns that have been raised by the parishioners."

The planned reorganization of the diocese would reduce the number of parishes in the diocese from 124 to 66, primarily through mergers. Galante has said the changes are needed in large part to cope with a priest shortage and demographic changes.

Reach Jim Walsh at (856) 486-2646 or jwalsh@courierpostonline.com