Notre Dame submits appeal to Archbishop Chaput

By Patti Mengers
Delco News Network
June 11, 2014

http://www.delconewsnetwork.com/articles/2014/06/10/news_of_delaware_county/news/doc5397101ea419b168550895.txt

RIDLEY TOWNSHIP — Notre Dame de Lourdes Church parishioners who had expected to submit an appeal to keep their parish open to Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput last Friday, finally sent him their letter, drafted by a canon lawyer, Monday along with petitions containing more than 3,000 signatures.

“Everybody we speak to says the momentum is growing. I hope we can sustain it,” said Thomas Donahue, spokesman for the parish’s Save Notre Dame de Lourdes campaign.

The 3,527 parishioners learned at masses on May 31 and June 1 that the archbishop, on the advice of the archdiocesan Strategic Planning Committee, has determined that Notre Dame de Lourdes will close July 1 and merge with Our Lady of Peace Parish in Milmont Park.

The closures and mergers are part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Parish Planning Initiative conceived in 2010 by former Philadelphia archbishop Cardinal Justin Rigali and implemented in 2011 by Chaput to determine parish sustainability. For now, the churches of the closed parishes will remain as worship sites for special occasions, but their assets, debts and properties will be transferred to the parishes with which they are merging.

“This is a complete injustice on the part of the archdiocese,” said Notre Dame Pastor the Rev. Karl Zeuner from the pulpit to a packed church at noon Mass June 1.

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 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.

Last Saturday evening, black signs bearing the message “Save Our Parish” began appearing along Fairview Road and Michigan Avenue, which border the 10-acre Notre Dame church and grade school property, as well as along the streets in the surrounding Swarthmorewood and Grace Park communities. Some Roman Catholics in neighboring Swarthmore Borough have also joined the drive to keep Notre Dame open.

A June 19 candlelight vigil in support of keeping Notre Dame open is planned at the church following 7 p.m. Mass.

Over the last week, 1,307 signatures were procured on written petitions and 1,732 in an online petition, although some of them were duplications said Donahue. Signatures in support of keeping the 55-year-old parish open will continue to be collected, he noted.

“The more we can get, the better it will be if we appeal to Rome,” said the 48-year-old insurance fraud investigator, who with his wife, Terri, has been a member of the parish for 21 years.

Kenneth Gavin, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, noted that if the archbishop denies the Notre Dame parishioners’ appeal, they may next petition the Vatican directly by writing to the Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy within 15 business days of Chaput’s response.

Gavin said last week that when mergers are proposed, they are not based on any one or two factors, such as sacramental activity or finances. He said when carefully reviewing Notre Dame and Our Lady of Peace properties, “the condition of the facilities at Our Lady of Peace Parish offered the best possibility for current sustainability and future growth given their condition when compared to those at Notre Dame de Lourdes.”

“This point is significant in that deferred maintenance costs for the properties on the Our Lady of Peace campus will be low in the coming years,” said Gavin.

Donahue said when archdiocesan representatives evaluated Notre Dame facilities last September, they determined that there were no structural issues and that the buildings were clean and very well-maintained.

“The new roof was put up (on the church) in the last year and new tile and carpet were just installed in the last week, week and a half,” said Donahue.

In addition to Notre Dame de Lourdes this year, Delaware County parishes affected include Holy Spirit in Sharon Hill, which Chaput has directed to merge with St. George Parish in Glenolden, and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the Essington section of Tinicum, which has been directed to merge with St. Gabriel in Norwood.

In a statement released June 1, archdiocesan officials said the mergers “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.”

According to archdiocesan officials, 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. As of 2013, the parish surplus was $57,188 said Donahue who noted Notre Dame receives monthly income from the investment of a significant amount of money bequeathed to the parish in October 2012.

Every parish in the five-county region of the archdiocese will eventually be directed to engage in Parish Area Pastoral Planning “self-studies” that include pastors and their parish representatives conferring with each other in designated Pastoral Planning Areas. They usually meet with their regional bishop, which for Delaware County is the Most Rev. John McIntyre, and the dean, who then take their recommendations to the Archdiocesan Strategic Planning Committee, the College of Priests and the College of Consultors. The archbishop makes the final determination as to the fate of the parishes.

Last year, parishioners from Holy Saviour in Lower Chichester and Immaculate Conception in Marcus Hook, who were directed by Chaput to merge with St. John Fisher Parish in Upper Chichester, appealed the closure of their parishes all the way to Rome without success. Donahue said Notre Dame parishioners also intend to appeal their case to Pope Francis if necessary.

“In past rounds of mergers, parishioners have made such appeals to the Vatican. In each instance, the merger decision made at the archdiocesan level was upheld,” Gavin said last week.

The parish closures recommended for this July 1 will bring the number of parishes for the archdiocese’s 1.5 million Roman Catholics down to 219 as compared to 266 when the initiative began. Delaware County’s nearly 200,000 Catholics will be left with 38 parishes, down from 46.