Three Delco Catholic parishes dealing with closings, mergers

By Patti Mengers
Delaware County Daily Times
June 1, 2014

http://www.delcotimes.com/general-news/20140601/three-delco-catholic-parishes-dealing-with-closings-mergers

Three local Roman Catholic churches will be closing July 1 reducing the number of Delaware County parishes to 38 according to an announcement released Sunday morning by officials in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Holy Spirit Church in Sharon Hill, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the Essington section of Tinicum and Notre Dame de Lourdes in Ridley Township have been directed by Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput on the recommendation of his Archdiocesan Strategic Planning Committee, to close their doors at the end of the month.

His announcement follows “self-studies” of “Parish Planning Area 310” and “Parish Planning Area 300” commenced last September as part of the archdiocese’s Parish Planning Initiative to ensure sustainability proposed by former Philadelphia archbishop, Cardinal Justin Rigali, for the 5-county archdiocese in 2010.

Holy Spirit parishioners have been directed to attend St. George Church in Glenolden, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque members have been directed to St. Gabriel Church in Norwood and Notre Dame de Lourdes parishioners have been instructed to attend Our Lady of Peace Church in the Milmont Park section of Ridley Township. Several of them convened over dinner immediately after Mass and reached the consensus that they were not going down without a fight.

“If you take the emotion out of it and simply look at the facts, it doesn’t quite make sense. I have to question the motives,” said Notre Dame Parish council member Kathleen Hamm, who noted that Notre Dame had nearly three times the number of baptisms than Our Lady of Peace had in the last year and is financially solvent, while Our Lady of Peace is in debt.

Petition sites were set up at two other entrances to the church Sunday and by noon hundreds had affixed their names to the document, which was prefaced by the following plea to Chaput: “After a great deal of prayer, we the parishioners of Notre Dame de Lourdes Church are respectfully signing this petition in support of keeping our church open.”

Notre Dame parishioner Tom Donahue said the petition drive will continue from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Benonis Center on the parish campus.

“Parishioners will be able to stop throughout the day to sign the petition,” said Donahue.

The other local casualties of the latest round of “self-studies” that are part of the Archdiocese Parish Planning Intitiative are Holy Spirit in Sharon Hill and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the Essington section of Tinicum.

The Rev. Anthony Orth, pastor of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, was able to deliver the good news that while St. Margaret Mary’s was closing, he would be the new pastor of the parish with which it was merging, St. Gabriel Church, two miles away in Norwood. The Rev. Martin E. Woodeshick, who will be 72 in August and is about to retire, recognized that there were just not enough priests to staff both Holy Spirit and St. George Church, 1.3 miles away in Glenolden, with which Holy Spirit is merging.

But Zeuner, who had been planning to become pastor emeritus in June due to health problems, made it clear in his Saturday evening and Sunday sermons that he was not happy with Chaput’s decision.

“This is a complete injustice on the part of the archdiocese,” said Zeuner at noon Mass on Sunday.

He wondered how the Archdiocesan Strategic Planning Committee, along with the Council of Priests and the College of Consultors, could reach the conclusion that Notre Dame should close since that was not the recommendation of his parish representatives nor the Pastoral Planning Initiative to the regional bishop, the Most Rev. John McIntyre. The pastor noted that he was grateful parishioners realized that he did nothing wrong. “It’s not my fault,” he said.

“The archbishop who solicited advice from the Archdiocesan Strategic Planning Committee and the Council of Priests did something wrong. We don’t have to answer to him. He has to answer to God for his decisions,” said Zeuner.

The pastor was perplexed by Chaput’s decision not only because the parish has healthy parishioner participation and a healthy budget, but also because it has a thriving grade school, which will reportedly remain open. It is also the place of worship for many Roman Catholic Swarthmore College students and, in a few weeks, will be the place of worship for eight developmentally disabled men housed in the new Don Guanella community residence built next door by the archdiocese’s Catholic Social Services.

According to a statement released Sunday, archdiocesan officials said, “The mergers being announced today are due to a number of factors, including a shift in Catholic population, a high density of parishes in a small area, as well as declines in Mass attendance, sacramental activity, the availability of priests to staff parishes and a review of facilities.”

The press release indicated that Notre Dame de Lourdes had 46 baptisms in 2012 down from 48 in 2008, 13 marriages up from 10, and 773 attending weekend Mass down from 994. Our Lady of Peace had 12 baptisms in 2012 down from 21 in 2008, 12 marriages up from 10, and 556 down from 726 attending weekend Mass.

Zeuner maintained that Our Lady of Peace has a $400,000 debt while Notre Dame is financially solvent.

“If you look at the mathematics, the facts really speak for themselves. We are hopeful, we are prayerfully hopeful,” said Hamm.

Kathleen Pagliei believes Notre Dame’s parish is actually growing, fed by families in the surrounding Swarthmorewood community. A member of Notre Dame for 40 years, she and her husband, Joe, raised their three children in the parish and she buried her parents from the church.

“This is a spiritual family that’s being broken,” said Pagliei.

One young mother of two juggled her children as she signed the petition. Another walked outside in the sunshine with her toddler while the rest of the Sunday worshippers were talking among themselves in the pews about the sad news, at the invitation of the pastor and the Rev. James Olson, president of Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School in Upper Darby, who was celebrating the Mass.

“We’re very crushed we’re losing Father Zeuner. Now, on top of that, we’re losing the church,” said the young mother as she bounced her baby boy on her hip.

She noted that her in-laws have been with Notre Dame since it was founded in February 1959 and used to attend Mass at the old Swarthmore movie theater before the church was built.

Mike Irwin grew up in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in the Morton postal section of Ridley Township, but he has been a member of Notre Dame for 40 years.

“I don’t want to see it closed,” said the 66-year-old Swarthmore resident as he signed the petition.

The mood at Holy Spirit Church late Sunday morning was much more subdued, but no less pained at the news of the 122-year-old parish’s closing.

“I’ve been here over 50 years, since the new church was built. I think of it as home. I’m very upset,” said MaryAnn Ferguson. “We’re a good parish. And, what’s going to happen to the senior citizens who walk to church? What’s going to happen to them?

David Reilly, 49, of Sharon Hill, attended both the 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. masses Sunday at Holy Spirit.

“I thought I’d better get as many masses in as I can. I was baptized here,” said Reilly as he displayed a family tree showing all of his relatives who were Holy Spirit parishioners.

Next Sunday, 84-year-old Peggy McCann and her 88-year-old husband, Pat, will donate flowers for Holy Spirit’s altar where, 64 years ago on June 10, they were married. Mrs. McCann was brought to Holy Spirit by her adoptive parents in 1932 and she, herself, raised five children in the parish.

“This is one of the saddest days of my life,” Mrs. McCann said Sunday after learning that her beloved parish will close in a month.

Although she had stints as a parishioner at St. George and at the former Most Blessed Sacrament Parish in Philadelphia, Nancy Smith Canady returned more than 30 years ago to Holy Spirit. She, too, was saddened at Sunday’s news delivered by the pastor from the pulpit.

“I was baptized here as a 1-month-old baby. I was confirmed here. I had all my sacraments here and went to grade school here,” said Canady, who had her young grandson with her on Sunday.

Holy Spirit was also where 68-year-old Dianne Roberts Gibbs was baptized in 1978 when she converted to Catholicism.

“I’m sad, real sad,” said Gibbs after writing a prayer request in a special intention book in the back of the church. “My family all came here. My grandfather went here for years, ever since the parish has been here.”

Holy Spirit parishioners walked down the aisle after receiving Holy Communion Sunday with tears in their eyes. Ferguson could barely speak as she noted the affection she and her husband, Ed, have for their pastor.

“We will miss Father Woodeshick very much. He was most gracious to my husband and myself,” said Ferguson.

Woodeshick is known by many in the Sharon Hill community for handing out nonperishable food, donated by parishioners, to anyone who knocked on the rectory door during his 19 years as pastor.

“I’ve been very blessed to be here as long as I have. It’s my second family and the rectory is my second home,” said Woodeshick, who will now be “senior priest” at Our Lady of the Assumption in Strafford, Chester County.

Woodeshick himself grew up in Upper Darby and attended St. Cyril of Alexandria Church in East Lansdowne, which was closed by the archdiocese last year.

Holy Spirit and St. George are part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s “Parish Planning Area 310,” while St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Gabriel, Notre Dame and Our Lady of Peace are part of “Parish Planning Area 300.” Parishes in both areas commenced “self-studies” last September as part of the archdiocese’s Parish Planning Initiative to ensure sustainability proposed by former Philadelphia archbishop, Cardinal Justin Rigali, for the five-county archdiocese in 2010.

In a press release, archdiocesan officials noted that Holy Spirit had three baptisms in 2012 down from 12 in 2008, six marriages down from eight, and 185 down from 244 attending weekend Mass. St. George had 31 baptisms in 2012 up from 24 in 2008, five marriages down from 15, and 426 down from 532 attending weekend Mass.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque had 23 baptisms in 2012 up from 12 in 2008, three marriages down from five, and 294 attending weekend Mass down from 375. St. Gabriel had 72 baptisms in 2012 down from 105 in 2008, 27 marriages down from 38, and 787 attending weekend Mass down from 1,124.

In addition to Our Lady of Peace, St. George and St. Gabriel, the Delaware County parishes that survived the cut this year are St. Rose of Lima in Eddystone, Sacred Heart in Clifton Heights, St. Joseph in Collingdale, St. Eugene in the Primos section of Upper Darby, St. Madeline in Ridley Park, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Our Lady of Fatima, both in Ridley Township.

Sunday archdiocesan officials also announced closures of parishes in Montgomery, Bucks and Philadelphia counties. As of July 1, there will be 219 parishes in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as compared to 266 that existed in the five-county region when the parish “self-studies” commenced in 2011.

Last year, parishioners at Holy Saviour in Lower Chichester and Immaculate Conception in Marcus Hook, which both served working-class, riverfront communities, appealed all the way to the Vatican to keep their parishes open — or to “twin” them and have them exist with one pastor — to no avail.

With the closure of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, St. Rose of Lima, which had been rumored in March to be closing but was spared, is now the only riverfront parish in Delaware County. Last year, in addition to Holy Saviour and Immaculate Conception, which were both directed to merge with St. John Fisher in Upper Chichester nearly three miles away, the parishes that were closed in Delaware County were St. Louis in Yeadon, which merged with Blessed Virgin Mary 1.5 miles away in Darby, St. Alice in Upper Darby, which merged with St. Laurence in Upper Darby 1.5 miles away, and St. Cyril, which merged with St. Philomena parish in Lansdowne less than a mile away.