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	Catholics Were Tested by a Sex-Abuse Scandal and Church Closings. Now the Faithful Are Seeing Signs of Renewal By Debbie Hovanasian Lowell Sun [Massachusetts] April 17, 2006 http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_3717224 Regina Rich grew up surrounded by a large, extended family firmly entrenched in the traditions of the Catholic faith. First Communions, confirmations, and weddings were celebrations. A Tewksbury native, Rich was educated at St. Peter's Grammar School in Lowell and faithfully attended Sunday Mass. She married in 1984 at the aging St. Peter's Church in Lowell for sentimental reasons. Her triplets were born in 1991, and were baptized. But when clergy sexual abuse scandalized the Boston Archdiocese in 2002, Rich, 50, did what many other Catholics did. She fell away. Today, she is slowly finding her way back. So are many others who found their faith tested. Though anger lingers, a strong devotion to the Gospel, Catholic liturgy and doctrinal teachings appear to have kept many Catholics rooted in their pews through difficult times, local church leaders say. Mass attendance has not recovered to the pre-scandal years in most parishes, but there appear to be signs of hope that healing has begun. There are also many prayers that the elevation of Boston Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley to cardinal last month will usher in a turnaround for a shaken archdiocese that has been "ground zero" for the clergy sex-abuse crisis, and which suffered through school and church closings. A Journey Home Rich said the sex-abuse scandal stirred up bad memories of some "cruel" nuns who taught her in the 1960s, who would smack her wrist with a ruler just for not performing as well as others. The sex-abuse scandal was became another -- though much stronger -- example of the church's failings, she said. Rich left the church. Three years later, she began to miss many of the Catholic traditions and rituals, and began focusing on the positive aspects of the faith, she explained. "It was a small percentage of priests who were accused of wrongdoing," she said. "The church still teaches good values, being a good person, treating other people well -- living your life according to the stories we have always heard about Jesus." Rich attends Mass on some Sundays at St. Francis Church in Dracut. Her triplets, Aria, Jonathan and Brendan, 14, attend Lowell's Franco American Catholic School, and she expects to send them to Lowell Catholic High School in the fall. It feels a little like being "home," she said. "I have a deep-rooted emotional attachment to the Catholic Church, and I could never completely sever my ties to it." Statistics of the Scandal Church attendance began to drop once details of sexual abuse and church cover-up emerged in January 2002, in nearly every parish in the Archdiocese. The Sun surveyed sacramental activity in six local parishes: St. Michael, Immaculate Conception, and St. Margaret in Lowell, St. John The Evangelist in Chelmsford, St. William in Tewksbury, and St. Joseph in Pepperell. The archdiocese measures attendance during three weekends in October. In October 2001, an average of 7,648 parishioners worshipped on weekends at the six parishes. By October 2003, the average was 6,466, down 1,182, or roughly 15 percent. By 2005, Mass attendance rates did increase in four of the six parishes -- St. Michael, St. Margaret, Immaculate and St John. Only St. Michael surpassed its pre-scandal (1999-2001) Mass attendance. The Rev. Robert McMillan, of the Planning and Research Office of the Boston Archdiocese, said the increases in the Lowell parishes are partly due church reorganization. Five of Lowell's 13 Catholic churches were closed in 2004: St. Louis de France, St. Jeanne D'Arc, Nuestra Senora Del Carmen, Notre Dame de Lourdes and Sacred Heart (which merged with St. Marie to become Holy Family). "People have found homes in other parishes and that does reflect in the numbers," McMillan said. Parish Life But there's more to the Catholic comeback than Mass attendance rates, parish leaders stress, such as parish life and vibrancy. "The issues have not been easy, and they have affected the clergy just as much as anyone else," said the Rev. John W. Hanley of St. William. "But people are beginning to say that we have to move on." Hanley also sees a "spiritual rebirth," crediting much of it to the parish's retreats presented by parishioners that include talks and activities on adoration, community, theology and service. "It (the retreats) came at a crucial time for our parish," said Hanley, who said he now senses a deeper need in his parishioners for spirituality. "There have been some tremendous miracles of conversion." Coffee and doughnuts now are available after Mass. The parish has started a young mothers' group. And lectures and discussions are aimed at bringing people together. "Often people will go to church with someone for 30 years and don't even know each other's names," he said. "We want to promote growth in the knowledge of one another." Joyce Wholey, a lifelong member of St. John the Evangelist and pastoral associate for 13 years, said she sees "a few people coming back." "The 9 o'clock children's liturgy has brought in so many new young families," she said. "Parents are getting to know each other, forming connections, and starting to volunteer." Standing Tall Again The Rev. Nicholas Sannella has been pastor at the Immaculate Conception In Lowell for just 15 months. He can't compare the parish today to a few years ago. But Sannella said Mass attendance at Immaculate is up from 2004 and people are happy. Archdiocese statistics show a decrease in baptisms and funerals, however, the archdiocese uses fiscal year July 1 through June 30. Sannella recorded the parish's sacramental activity during the calendar year 2005, his first year as pastor. Those show an increase in baptisms from 62 in 2004 to 81 in 2005; and in funerals from 83 in 2004 to 91 in 2005. Immaculate also has a "couple of dozen weddings" already booked for this year, as engaged couples are now gaining confidence in the church's future, Sannella said. "We still have a long way to go," he stressed, "but we are moving ahead and I'm optimistic. I'm getting tremendous support from so many people." The church, a magnificent granite, Gothic cruciform strucuture, which built from 1871 to 1877 by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (the OMIs had originally come from Canada to preach to English-speaking Catholics and French-Canadians at parish missions in the diocese). It was dedicated on June 10, 1877, "one of the Most beautiful churches in the country," according to the Lowell Times. Cardinal William O'Connell, a Lowell native, later described it as "an illustration of art, poetry, architecture and music all combined." But it was recently a parish in trouble. The church needed significant repairs. In May 2004, the archdiocese considered closing it. Parishioners met with then-Apostolic Administrator Bishop Richard Lennon. "No one could believe it (closing) could happen," Cooney said. "We wanted to know what our future was," said Jim Cooney, a parishioner since he was enrolled in the church school in third grade. "Basically he told us we didn't have much." The group raised nearly $500,000 for structural repairs. Sannella, a former Lowell-area vascular surgeon and lawyer, had been ordained in 2003 and was parochial vicar at Most Blessed Sacrament in Wakefield, arrived. A year later, Sannella's "charisma" combined with a "holiness, intelligence, business sense and strong sense of humor" has restored Immaculate's vibrancy, said Cooney, owner of James Cooney Real Estate, "This parish was down on its knees -- literally and figuratively -- and now it's back standing tall," he said. Children are more involved now, he said. Sannella also been counseling parishioners who considered leaving the church because of the scandal and its handling of church closings, he added. "He's re-establishing their faith and confidence," he said. "We are now back to our roots." Banding Together St. Michael Church in Lowell was particularly hit hard during the scandal. During the 1970s, the late Rev. Joseph E. Birmingham is alleged to have sexually assaulted as many as 25 boys there. O'Malley met with 15 of Birmingham's victims in August 2003. Today, St. Michael, having welcomed parishioners from the suppressed St. Louis de France, appears to have rebounded. After a slight dip in 2003, Mass attendance has grown through 2005 and even increased over its pre-scandal attendance rates recorded from 1999 to 2001. Seven-year St. Michael parishioner Tom Mackey sends his daughters, Jade, 11, and Karina, 9, to St. Michael School. "We found it to be a vibrant church when we started, and during the scandal, people just banded together and came closer to keep the parish alive," he said. "It almost seems as if we were not affected by it." Mackey has noticed lately an increase of parishioners at Mass, a larger choir, and more students at the school. His oldest daughter is an altar server among "a long list of kids who signed up," he said. Three Priests, Five Parishes Sister Roberta Rzeznik, pastoral associate at St. Joseph Parish in Pepperell, describes the parish as a "wonderful community with some very good people." The parish serves the Catholic community in the rural town of 11,000 that borders New Hampshire and was once a thriving mill town and farming community. Though Mass attendance is down, "they've remained faithful," she said. They do have some uncertainty. St. Joseph is part of the five-parish Nashoba Cluster: Sacred Heart-Saint James, Groton; St. Anthony of Padua, Shirley; St. John the Evangelist, Townsend; and St. Mary, Ayer. Under a reconfiguration plan aimed at keeping all five parishes open in a time of priest shortages, the five parishes will share three priests, pending approval of the proposal (which was drawn up by representatives of the cluster) by the Presbyteral Council. O'Malley has accepted the plan. Beginning June 1, the plan calls for one pastor to serve St. Mary and St. Anthony; another Sacred Heart-St. James and St. Joseph; and a third in Townsend and Ashby from St. John the Evangelist. "People are anxious about how it is going to work," Rzeznik said. There is no strong negativity, she added, because all five churches remain open. Rzeznik said there is a need for deeper spirituality which she believes did not exist even two years ago. She points to a spiritual program she is introducing called "Immersed in Christ." Three times as many people signed up as she expected. One Family in Faith During the reconfiguration of Lowell churches, the smaller St. Marie Parish welcomed the closed, yet larger Sacred Heart Parish because St. Marie's facilities were more modern. But the parishioners chose to rename the merged parishes Holy Family Parish. Ann Gerace, religious education director for both parishes for five years, said the change helped all parishioners feel equal. She added that St. Marie parishioners had expected to be closed, so they had a "great empathy" toward Sacred Heart's family. Gerace said there was some difficulty with "people feeling displaced" during the merger. But a year later, "I see a spirit of advancement. We are going forward and becoming one family," she said. "We chose Holy Family because of 'family' in the name." When Sacred Heart School closed, some families left to attend Immaculate Conception School, and others went "shopping" around for parishes, Gerace said. "But we have picked up people from other closed parishes as well." Gerace said a whole-family faith formation event in January drew more than half of the families in the religious education program, as well as some not connected to religious education. Gerace said many of the encouraging signs and yearning for a deeper spirituality in the local parishes today are the result of people being more comfortable with their spirituality than they were 20 years ago. "Today, they may not have the same background or knowledge about their faith, but they know a good God, they are comfortable with God," she said. "They enjoy speaking about God, they want Him in their lives."
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