Cardinal Dolan: Church closings are possible in Staten Island (photos)http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/06/cardinal_dolan_church_closings.htmlPrior to presiding at a joyous Father's Day debt-burning ceremony at St. Ann's R.C. Church in Dongan Hills, Cardinal Timothy Dolan had some bad news for ailing parishes as he acknowledged that church closings are on the table as part of the Archdiocese of New York's, "Making All Things New," initiative.
The cardinal's final decisions are expected to be implemented on Jan. 1, 2015. A letter from the cardinal that was read at weekend masses at parishes throughout Staten Island confirmed what was previously reported in the Advance, that the parishes of St. Joseph's and St. Mary's in Rosebank and Immaculate Conception in Stapleton will be headed by one pastor as a prelude to the parish restructuring program.
While the three parishes will operate independently and no mention was made of shuttering any of them, the cardinal indicated that they will be working together to determine their future viability.
The cardinal made it clear in his blog and last week's Catholic New York that he thinks there are too many parishes and that he wants to trim the $48 million that the archdiocese spends each year to operate its churches and schools. The archdiocese already has shuttered some parish schools -- including those at St. Joseph's, St. Mary's, and Immaculate Conception -- in its move to a regional education system.
"We have too many parishes" the cardinal stated in Catholic New York. "We no longer need 385 parishes."
He further explained the archdiocese's financial predicament, saying in Catholic New York: "We devote a lopsided amount of money to maintain parishes and buildings we no longer need. Simply put, we can no longer put out $48 million a year to keep on life support parishes, buildings and schools we no longer need."
When asked by an Advance reporter if churches would be shuttered, the cardinal said that Making All Things New would look at a "whole menu of opportunities" including, but not limited to, "merging, consolidating and even, on rare occasions, closing" parishes. The most "dramatic shifts" he said will be in Manhattan, which has an excess of parishes for its population of Roman Catholics, and the Bronx.
The cardinal stressed, though, that the initiative would look at all sorts of options such as churches sharing resources and staff with perhaps priests, deacons or youth ministers serving more than one parish.
The archdiocese also will consider building churches in areas where congregations are growing and thriving, but that's unlikely on Staten Island, where there cardinal said there already are "enough parishes."
Intensive Making All Things New meetings at parishes will begin in September and participants will look not only at facilities but at Roman Catholic demographic trends and sacramental records. If a parish has more funerals than baptisms, it may be time for a change, the cardinal said.
In the letter read at the weekend masses, the cardinal verified what already was previously revealed in the Advance, that the Rev. Victor Buebendorf will be serving as pastor of St. Mary's, St. Joseph's and Immaculate Conception. The Rev. Peter Byrne, currently the pastor of Immaculate Conception, will be the new pastor at St. Elizabeth's R.C. Church in Manhattan, and Rev. Michael Martine, now pastor of St. Joseph's, will be replacing the Rev. Robert Aufieri as pastor at Holy Rosary R.C. Church.
"I am pleased to announce that your three communities of faith ... Saint Mary's, Immaculate Conception and Saint Joseph's ... will be asked to work together to plan for the future in this part of the archdiocese and how best to provide for the pastoral care of our people," the cardinal said in his letter. "We need your input and ideas."
Cardinal Dolan laid out details of his plan to priests and other religious at a session on June 6 at St. Joseph's Seminary and the co-vicars of Staten Island, Monsignors James Dorney and Peter Finn, are in a photo of the event printed in last week's Catholic New York.
Making All Things New is headed by the Rev. John O'Hara, former pastor of St. Teresa's R.C. Church in Castleton Corners, who is director of the Strategic Pastoral Planning Office for the Archdiocese. He spoke at the gathering on June 6 along with John Reid and Maureen Gallagher of the Reid Group, which has assisted in Cardinal Dolan's former diocese, Milwaukee, Wis., and also the dioceses of Newark.
Cardinal Dolan introduced Making All Things New to his flock of 2.6 million in a 2010 letter printed in Catholic New York. Parishes subsequently were visited, a survey was conducted and other preliminary work was done.
On Sunday night, the cardinal officiated at a standing-room only mass and debt-burning celebration at St. Ann's. The parish under the leadership of the Rev. Joy Mampilly, retired more than $600,000 in debt in less than three years despite tough economic times and parishioners struggling with personal losses from Hurricane Sandy.
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