FROM TRAGEDY TO JUBILEE

Wednesday was FIELD TRIP DAY!

Fr. Pfeiffer and I jumped into his Bernadette Subaru and headed south to Columbus to visit the Jubilee Museum.  The Jubilee Museum in the Diocese of Columbus collects discarded Catholic items from closed or closing Catholic churches and displays them in a former Catholic school in Columbus.  (Some items were reclaimed from bars, junk stores, and other businesses that obtained sacred items when a church closed.) The founding priest is Fr. Lutz pictured below.

The interesting cross next to which he is standing was made of parts of the wrecking ball crane that was used to tear down a Columbus church the model of which you can see in the background.  (I will let him tell you the rest of that story when you visit the museum.)

There are many wonderful and interesting things to be found there and our gracious host gave us a most excellent tour.  Below is from the vestment collection, probably my favorite room in the museum.

 As evidence that he is not too narrow in his saving of items, below is an example of a vestment (that was quite well constructed) that looks - well - while well done would have been an excellent addition to a Lost in Space episode had a Catholic priest been on board.  

 The items are varied and sometimes surprising.  Below would be a case in point.  This is a portion of a branch of a tree under which the very first Mass in Ohio was prayed.  They were apparently cut and handed out as commemorative pieces to mark the occasion.  (That isn't even the most remarkable part of the story but again I will let a docent give you the full story.)

 I have had some personal items that I have saved from parishes over the years - items that were destined for the dumpster of which I said, "I'l take them to the dumpster for you," and they ended up in my basement.  Finally a good home was found for them and we did a little bit of bartering.  I exchanged my items for the item pictured in the backseat of Bernadette Subaru.  It is sanctuary lamp that will be used in the new chapel at the Julie Billiart School in Akron.

Fr. was also gracious enough to provide some materials pertaining directly pertaining to St. Sebastian Parish in Akron!  Those will be revealed on our 90th anniversary.  Thank you and God bless Father!

So here are a couple of things with which I will leave you:  The first, I have a chapel that I need to make Catholic.  The school, named the Julie Billiart School at St. Sebastian, Akron, is a Catholic school for children with learning challenges.  The chapel (shown below) will be used by the school.  It needs everything and I cannot take it out of the parish budget: candle sticks, statues, stations of the cross, alter linens, a nice sized corpus for the cross, processional candles and cross, pipe organ . . . you get the picture.  If you have anything, please consider donating it to the new school.

OR - if you have items that do not have a good home and they would not work in the chapel above, consider donating them to the Jubilee Museum where the will be given a good home.

Thanks for reading!

THINGS THAT DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO BE

This is the story of two mansions in neighboring cities.  Both are nationally acclaimed, both beautiful, both deeply tied to the community’s history and identity.

One still exists.

One has gone met the kiss of the recking ball.

The first is Stan Hywet Hall in Akron.  It is a major generator of traffic to West Akron both to see the mansion and to attend one of the events often held there.

The other is the O. C. Barber mansion in Barberton, Ohio.  It was torn down in order to make way for a Zayer’s store.  Do you remember Zayer’s?  Nobody does.

I remember my mother telling me that one day she was walking in downtown Barberton and man in a cowboy hat came out of the bank (also no longer in existence) when a strong wind blew papers out his hand.  My mother trapped the bolting paper under her foot.  The city cowboy gentleman lassoed his errant document and said, “Good work little lady!  You just saved the future of Barberton!”  As it turns out, it was (supposedly) the deed to the Barber mansion.  “If I had known what it was I would have let it fly away,” Mom used to say with a twinge of sadness.

Neither mansion has to exist.  Although I do realize that the history here is complicated, what comes down to is leadership and the interest of the community.  No mysterious force is going to come to the rescue.  If the will of the community is not as strong as the forces of decay or other interests, it will pass the way of history.

It is much the same with a Catholic parish.  It does not have to exist - at least the building does not have to exist.  Epic ecclesial edifices in Cleveland (long before the current closings) have ceased to exist.  St. Agnes on Cleveland’s east side is one of these casualties.  The long and short of the story is that Catholics moved away and now all that is left is a tower.  Once a proud, thriving parish, now the tower stands as a memorial to itself.  Societal pressures and preferences outweighed the desire to keep neighborhood and parish a thriving Catholic area.

Conversely there are other parishes that were closed more recently and the reason was perceived lack of persons, funds, and vitality.  But for some of them, the desire to keep them open was strong and the parishes re-opened.  (This is not an evaluation of either decision, just a demonstration.)

It is not enough to “tsk” the pothole in the parish parking lot, or the leaking roof, or think someone should do something about the poor sound system.  There is no mysterious force out there that is going to come to rescue.  Despite the illusion that people have that the Church is wealthy beyond measure, there is no magic pot of money anywhere waiting to save a beautiful piece of architecture.  The only secret source of resources is in the generosity of the people who love their parish and in the end it is largely up to them if their parish building is going to be a Stan Hywet or an O. C. Barber mansion.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG SISTER

There is a great article in the Akron Beacon Journal today about Our Lady of the Elms 90^th anniversary.  You can read it by clicking here.  The “Elms” is only a couple of blocks from St. Sebastian and just five years older.  In essence, they grew up together.  And like siblings close in age, they didn’t always get along when they were young.  A peek at the archives, in which are letters written to the bishop at the time, reveals some rivalry over having two Catholic schools so close in proximity.  But as they matured as institutions I like to believe we have grown into a mutual respect having each developed our own identities.  Another
good article here.

 

It is interesting to look back into the archives of the founding of parishes and institutions.  That can reveal a lot of surprises.  I remember doing a research project on my home parish.  Sacred Heart was a Slovenian nationality parish in Barberton, Ohio.  It was always a tiny parish and has since been repressed, merged, given boundaries, and opened under the parish name of Prince of Peace and is larger now that it has ever been as a strictly nationality parish.

 

Going back into the archives I found that the founding of the parish and school was not smooth and cordial.  The deeply ethnic city got a lot of its flavor from a people who strongly associated with their ethnic roots.  So there was a tiny Polish parish, a small Slovak parish, the Hungarians had theirs, the mostly Irish and Germans had the “down town” parish, and the Slovenians were to have theirs.

 

Starting the parish was tricky indeed.  Letters written to the bishop demonstrated what a monumental task it was.  In the “old country,” the government took care of building the churches.  Now people were going door to door asking for money to build a church.  It seemed to them like there was a scam going on in this new land.  “Start building a church,” people would say, “and then we’ll start giving money.”  Of course, one needs money in order to start building and so you have your catch 22. 

 

That problem was eventually solved and the idea of starting a school came about.  The problem was that there were already a number of Catholic schools in this small city and the bishop was not excited about starting another.  Letters back and forth were not always cordial and so when I finished my report my Mom would not let me give it out at the parish.  “Those families are still around and we don’t want to drag up the past in this way.”  So it remained silent all these years.

 

The bishop finally did decide to let these tenacious Slovenians start their own school with the understanding that, after the families had been inculturated, the school would close.  That is easier said than done.  Who declares the inculturation finished?  Who closes an operating school?  But time, cost, changing demographics took care of this.  One by one all of the ethnic parish school closed, long before the priest shortage or recent slew of closings that has everyone up in arms.  Eventually even the parishes themselves closed. 

 

One might think that all that remains of a closed parish is a building, most of which have become new Protestant denominations and deteriorating grandeur (at least in this case although Sacred Heart has become a new Catholic parish,) boxes of artifacts and files in an office at the diocesan archives, and some wonderful memories.  But such is not the case.  The life of a parish lives on.  It lives on in the faith that was nourished in the people and their families that continue to form the faith life of the world today (my priesthood being part of the that) and in the souls that live on forever in heaven with our God – an eternal effect – because they once shared the faith life of fellow Slovenians in a tiny parish called Sacred Heart in a small city called Barberton. 

GEARING UP BEHIND THE SCENES FOR HISTORIC VENTURE

In the continuing saga of how to reopen parishes that have closed, there was a meeting earlier this week called by Bishop Lennon for those pastors whose parishes will be affected by the reopening.  Also in attendance were experts in civil and canon law, finances, and Church procedure.  It was a very congenial meeting but one at the end of which one priest said, “We are just so tired,” which was met with a groan of approval around the room.

The main concern by the pastors was the fate of many of the parishes that surround those that have closed.  There is a fear that the reopening will ultimately cause the downfall of more parishes.  It is something like this: You have three infants and hopefully enough food to feed two.  It is a terrible decision to make but you did and so hope for the best for the two infants.  Now all three must be fed and there is a real concern that diluting the proportions that thinly could possibly cause the death of all three.  When it comes to parishes, while not the case for all that surround the twelve, it is for a significant number.

There is also concern about where the priests will come from to staff these new parishes.  There are three men being ordained this weekend for the diocese.  This will not even come close to covering those who will be retiring.  “We just can’t go out and dig up twelve new priests,” one person said.  “You just might have to,” came the reply.

There are other problems also.  The lack of funds being one major obstacle.  Five of the seven parishes had no funds when they closed. 

 

It also needs to be remembered that the parishes are being reopened, not restored.  It would be impossible to restore the parishes.  Priests have moved on, people have moved on, others have died, services were taken over by other parishes and so on.  The newly reopened parishes may feel very different from when the parish closed.  There is simply no way to avoid that.

It is not all gloom and doom however.  True, these are mighty obstacles but at least there is the chance now to overcome them.  Reopening was the first obstacle to overcome and I dare say I did not hold my breath for it to be conquered.  So who’s to say the rest cannot be overcome?  New pastors will have to be terribly clever and innovative – and hopefully work with their surrounding parishes that might suffer because of their success.

 

My greatest happiness is that there are a few examples of the best of Diocese of Cleveland architecture that are getting a second chance at life.  My prayer is that whatever happens, a new pastor starts making the building viable for whatever outcome.  Once gone – these buildings will be gone forever.

That being said, do not look for the reopening of any parish to happen next week.  Besides this meeting there are meetings with parish representatives and potential pastors or administrators.  Once that is finished there is quite a bit of civil and canon law hoops through which we must jump.  It will take a month alone to bring stored artifacts of each of the parishes from the secure warehouse back to their proper locations. 

This is all rather historic.  Keep abreast of it because something like this may not ever happen again.  This will be talked about for many years to come.  To exemplify this the bishop said, “You are expected to be leaders.  There is no blueprint however and no clear cut path, but you will be expected to lead none-the-less.”

Please keep the congregations, the priests, all those involved with the process, and the bishop in your prayers.

HERE'S THE DOOR, AND HERE'S THE STEEPLE; OPEN UP THE DOORS AND THERE'S ALL THE PEOPLE

So Bishop Richard Lennon announced Tuesday last that he will not involve the diocese in an appeal of the Vatican’s ruling that 12 parishes in the diocese are to reopen. It would have been a very expensive and time consuming endeavor and bring more hardship to the diocese. His decision seems to be the wisest considering the circumstances.

That being said it will not be as easy as just opening the doors, turning on a light switch, and dusting off the pews. The whole process will be terribly complicated and have far reaching consequences throughout the diocese. Here are some of the challenges to face:

Let us take a local example to St. Sebastian. St. Mary parish is on the list for reopening. In my humble opinion it is one of the most architecturally significant buildings in our diocese and so I am pleased that it has a second chance. But it is exactly that: a chance, not something assured. With the parish itself there will be the task of getting the parish started. There have been no employees, no staff, no parishioners, and no income for a couple of years. It is one thing to start a parish meeting in a gym and building up to something great; it is another to start with the heavy burden of significant buildings that need lots of attention.

Very few Catholics live in the parish boundaries since the highway came through and so bringing people back will not be so easy – which also means surrounding parishes may start losing people. Nobody living outside the parish boundaries can be forced to return (and since in this diocese we are very lax about where people attend anyway, those who have moved on to other places who do live in the boundaries will not be forced to return if they choose not to.) When the Akron parishes were first formed, you would be refused membership in a parish in which boundaries you did not reside. That made it easier to start something.

Much of the portables from each of the parishes are in an undisclosed warehouse in Cleveland for safe keeping. (Knowing how abandoned churches have been vandalized and robbed in the past, this was a wise decision.) But all that has to be shipped back (at some expense from some place) and then organized once again.

There is nothing at the parish for Mass. No wine, no bread, no bulletins, no copy machine contracts, no soap, no toilet paper, no cleaning contracts, no extra light bulbs, no pest control, no one working on the grounds, no missalettes, no up to date books with the new translation of the Mass, no secretaries, not maintenance men, no musicians, no repairs have been made to pianos or pipe organs, so forth and so on . . . There is not so much as a Mass schedule or a confession schedule . . . How does one get the word out?

Then are those things that one does not think about. Since the current entities will be dissolved, in this case the parish known as St. Bernard-St. Mary, insurance records must be changed, bank records must be change, utilities, so forth and so on. Then there is the matter of sacramental records: Where will those who were baptized, married, confirmed, etc, be recorded if the combined entity is dissolved and reestablished as two parishes?

The parish will also be saddled with the responsibility of funding itself as well as making sure that it is a vibrant parish. There will be significant repairs that will have to be made to the buildings. Grand though they may be, they needed sky rocketing repairs before the closure, they will need even more now after being left mostly vacant for two years. That will probably be the biggest hurdle of all. Please pray for these parishes that they can see through this hump. There is no money coming from anywhere else . . . those funds simply do not exist. The monies raised from the diocesan capitol campaign are already designated and legally obligated in other areas. And despite what people might think, the diocese is definitely NOT sitting on bags of money without anyplace to spend it.

There will be changes for surrounding parishes also. Will the pastor at St. Bernard/St. Mary be able to remain? How will the cluster be re-designated? Where will 12 additional priests come from? Will smaller parishes that have parochial vicars (such as St. Sebastian, St. Francis, St. Augustine) no longer have that luxury? It will of course mean that the surrounding parishes that enjoyed an increase of persons as well as resources may now see a reduction. What if the new (or rather old) St. Mary Parish decided to start an extraordinary form Mass? Can this city support two such Masses? Would people at St. Sebastian return to their former parish or would we drain from St. Mary? If Fr. P. is pulled from this parish to cover all of the extra posts available would there be enough priests who know the extraordinary form to cover both parishes?

It may seem so, but this is not to discourage the potential good that may come of all of this. It is offered in the same way that one might talk to a teenager who wants his own car. There’s more to driving than driving – there’s insurance, there’s maintenance, there’s the cost of gas, there’s keeping the car clean . . . And re-opening a parish it is more than just throwing open the doors (as some have said. I must say I laughed with the city of Cleveland passed a resolution to have Bishop Lennon reopen Catholic parishes by Easter. 1) Not so easy. 2) So much for separation of Church and state.) It will be a challenging process – will require prayer, patience, understanding and sacrifice on everybody’s part – even those not directly involved - if this project is going to be successful.

So let’s to it.

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CCLVIII

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND:  "If you want to know what is most holy in this world look at what is severely profaned."  Christopher West 

QUOTE II:  "One day I was home in bed with the flu reading Erica Jong.  She was describing in exquisite detail what it was like to stand in her kitchen and eat a sandwich with her husband and realise how much she loved him.  Suddenly sex seemed beside the point if I didn't have a relationship that would stand up to eating together in the kitchen on an ordinary day."  Anon in "The Sun" magazine

IN OTHER NEWS:

GO AHEAD AND ASK FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLL:  Last weekend St. Sebastian Parish hosted what appears is going to be an annual hand bell festival.  If you would like to hear what it sounded like there is a short sound bite here.

The next concert at St. Sebastian is this Sunday with the Akron Symphony Choir.  Tickets are $15.  Don't miss it!

Also seen at the seminary for you Insanity fans:

Here is a thought provoking video:

From the Diocese of Cleveland Enewsletter:  "WASHINGTON - The U.S. bishops have issued a call to action to defend religious liberty and urged laity to work to protect the First Freedom of the Bill of Rights. They outlined their position in "Our First, Most Cherished Liberty." The document was developed by the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), approved for publication by the USCCB Administrative Committee March 13, and published in English and Spanish April 12."  Read more here.

Here is some late breaking news.  If you haven't already heard, Bishop Lennon announced today that he is not going to challenge the Vatican's decision to reopen certain parishes.  We are to publish a letter to the effect in this weekend's bulletin.  In Akron the parishes to reopen are St. Mary and St. John.  I imagine parishes injoying a parochial vicar will be far less in the future . . .

IT'S COMPLICATED

How often do you read here of a pat on the back to a newspaper for their coverage of a complicated and controversial subject concerning the Catholic Church?

Extremely rarely.

This is one of those days however. Hats off to the Plain Dealer Editor who wrote about the church closings this past Sunday. Facts were carefully laid out and a broad array of consequences – no hyperbole – no telling the Church what it needs to do (usually from non-Catholics or those who are barely practicing) – and no taking sides and emotional, not always well thought out, please. That is what I was taught in grade school a newspaper article should be.

The editor hit the nail on the head – the bishop is in for a rough time no matter what he decides. He might spend the time and resources to appeal the decision. Of course this will further the hurt of those who are currently rejoicing that their parishes are reopened. It also places the congregation from Historic Saint Peter in a more precarious position concerning their membership in the Catholic Church. And the local Church will be out some examples of mighty fine architecture.

It seems Rome is moving toward a view of preserving parishes – not necessarily congregations but parishes. This is, of course, much easier to do in Europe where the buildings are maintained by the state and if one needs to mothball a building, the five foot thick walls can stand abandoned for some time and when the need for the building returns, slap some new plaster on it, fix the roof, and there you go. Who ever heard of HVAC in a 500 year old building?

Obviously the state does not support church buildings in the United States, not even those of a historic nature. In fact, when we stop having Masses in these buildings they go on the tax rolls. They become a significant burden on the diocese. And to be quite frank, we cannot mothball our buildings for long. They are not built to withstand it. Try letting one of our buildings sit fallow for ten years and see if there is anything left worth saving.

On the other hand, what if the bishop decides not to challenge the decision – or if the decision is held up, there are many other repercussions. One lady who was interviewed about the reopening of her parish (in another article) said that as far as she knew the building would need a little dusting and then they could start right up. I wish it were so. In actuality it would be like starting a whole new parish but with significant expenditures coming upon it immediately. Many of the parishes no longer have a significant Catholic population within its boundaries. Those who attend will have to sacrifice mightily and quickly to get things up and running.

That also means people at other parishes will have to lose priests. The appointment of the pastors of the new merged entities is up for questions. Many times they were placed there to be a neutral person of the combined parishes. What of them? Will the congregations (and the priests!) have to go through changes again? What of the surrounding parishes? We have already discussed the possibility of taking a significant slash in next year’s budget because some new parishioners will be leaving to go back to their former parishes. Sacramental records will be a mess. Where were you baptized? At St. Combinedparishes which may never have canonically existed or where your parents originally belonged or at the parish Church in which it took place but has returned to its former name?

These are just some of the issues that have popped up recently. I am sure there are far more involved than I realize at this moment just as the well intentioned lady thought that nothing much more needed to be done than dust. Just be aware that whatever happens: it’s complicated.

MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES

Though it sounds nice enough, this is actually known as the “Chinese curse.” “Interesting” has no value. It simply means that someting draws your attention. So St. Maxamilion Kolbe’s life was very interesting, but I would not want to live it. Patty Hirsh’s life was interesting but . . .

So occasionally someone desiring to give a priest a compliment says, “Oh! You should be a bishop some day!” Every priest knows this is meant as a compliment but most know it is an ecclesiastical curse. And for those priests who don’t see it as a curse there is the adage, “He who wants to be a bishop deserves to be one,” also not meant in kindly terms.

If there were glory days for being a bishop they are over and have been for some time. We have occasional glimpses of what seems to be pretty swell lives but those moments are few and far between and not quite what they are cracked up to be. In fact there is a problem about getting priests to become bishops. There was, perhaps, at one time, a false modesty in which a man might refuse the office, “Oh, but I am not worthy,” as opposed to today when it appears that more and more priests say, “No thank you,” and pray they are not asked the second time (when it is much more difficult to say no.)

This post was on the docket today before the latest news broke out in the Diocese of Cleveland. If you missed it the Vatican reversed some of the closings of parishes in this diocese. Now if I do something for which I might be taken to task for by my parishioners it is just that – I have a group of parishioners mad at me. But if I go to the next parish over for dinner they most likely have no idea what I did to make a few people angry. If you are bishop and something like this happens, it is on the front page of the newspaper. As the song goes, “Nowhere to run to nowhere to hide. . .”

There are some bishops that I tend to agree with and those whose decisions on certain issues I might not, but I don’t believe there is one bishop who wakes up in the morning thinking, “How can I destroy the Catholic Church?” No matter what he might do, he thinks he is doing the best for his diocese – for the people he is charged to serve. I also fully believe that Christ founded a not just a religion but a Church, His Church, and that He left people in charge to assist us; namely the pope and bishops. Like St. Peter they are sometimes brilliant and sometimes not so much. But you know what, 2000 years later and having every other government on earth either defunct or changed dramatically the Catholic Church struggles on. And that God pulls this off using fallible human beings is just further evidence that it is the Holy Spirit holding things together.

So I guess this is a call to respect and honor the office of bishop (and by no means wish it on anybody.) By this I do not mean that everything a bishop does is correct and that concerns should not be brought to his attention (it is our right and duty to do so) but to bear in mind that he is our spiritual father of the local Church and to respect the office. And should things not seem quite right in the state of Denmark to pray all the more for your bishop. The best outcome is that either he or we convert to truth and that we can be united once again in Christ.

HISTORY MAY NOT REPEAT, BUT IT DOES RHYME

You can’t have a bishop who is not bishop of some place. That is, there are no bishops out there who are just roaming around with no diocese attached to their name. Therefore Bishop Pevec is the bishop of Mercia, Bishop Gries is the bishop of Presidio, and Bishop Quinn is the bishop of Socia.

Interestingly enough all these bishop are also auxiliary bishops of Cleveland. They live and minister right here in the Diocese of Cleveland. The places mentioned are their titular titles. The dioceses are no longer in existence. In fact, the bishops are forbidden to travel there because then they would be obliged to take control and claim the see of the diocese. Interesting reason to not be able to go some place – I wonder how many other similar situations there are like that in the world. . .

Now, admittedly it is a sad a tragic thing that 50 some odd parishes closed in the diocese of Cleveland, but it is not historically unique. Parishes and schools, convents and as seen above even dioceses have grown up and then disappeared. At times, the faith of an entire country can all but dissipate into thin air.

When I was a kid my parish school had already closed (this is the very early 1970s.) My sisters had attended that school but when my time came they were afraid to take me so they closed the school – or so my sisters explained it to me that way. The next parish over had closed their school too and one more on the far side of town would be closed within the next few years. There is still one open in town and doing its best to survive. It was simply a matter of big industry leaving town, the baby boom being over, the nuns pulling out (because they were already experiencing a shortage) and the increasing cost; factors not so different from today.

I still mourn the closing of the parishes and schools in Cleveland. I wish they could stay open forever – the communities, the architecture, the art, the history. . . But this sad state of affairs cannot be viewed, through the lens of history, as terribly unique or unprecedented – just sad. This is the constant state of the Church and will continue to be as long as this earth endures.

RANT; COUNTER RANT: 500 YEAR OLD BREAKING NEWS

On Sunday, front page, above the fold, the Cleveland Plain Dealer carried a story about break-away Catholic parishes. If you follow the story inside there was also a second story. Together there was about 1 and a half full pages dedicated to congregations that have split from the Catholic Church and are doing just fine thank you very much. Throughout there is constant mention of St. Peter, a community that has left the jurisdiction of the Catholic Church but retain other Catholic beliefs and practices. They broke away in protest against the diocese’s plan to close the parish as part of its program of restructuring.

There are two points that are worthy of consideration here. The first is that such a fuss is being made in the first place. People break away from Protestant denominations constantly. They rise and fall so quickly that it is difficult even to keep an accurate record. Like soap bubbles on roiling water they form, grow, split into ever smaller proportions, join elegances, grow, pop, change, rejuvenate, large bubbles in the center, thousands of smaller ones all around. Today there are literally thousands and thousands of denominations and independent churches and the number continues to grow. For various reasons; leadership, theology, philosophy, political reasons, geographic, popularity, etc. the world of Christian denominations is in a constant state of flux, dividing as they feeled called. There are some notable exceptions; say that noble main-line Protestant denomination building that has stood on one of your church corners for decades. But there is even a good chance that they have realigned themselves with another “conference” or that others have left their conference for some other.

The point is: it’s only really big news if it happens to the Catholic Church. And that shouldn’t be news. Is anybody surprised that this happens? It has been happening in earnest for about 500 years. It is called the Protestant movement. It began with groups of people dissatisfied with the Catholic Church for various and sundry reasons, sometimes very good reasons. They protest against the Church by breaking away, establishing their own way, having their own ministers and leadership, often beginning with the thought that when they have effected change in the Church, they will reunite, but not always.

The congregations mentioned still want to call themselves Catholic. I understand that. It does lend a certain legitimacy. I am sure that they have very good reasons for doing what they do though what is quoted in the newspaper is largely sound bites and bumper sticker slogans, not philosophy or theology. I trust that if we were to sit down with anyone from any of these congregations, particularly the ministers, they would have a well thought out manifesto. That being said, part of the definition of being Catholic is not to be a "Church", but a parish united to a local Church, that is, a diocese. The diocese in turn is part of the universal Church, in our case, the Catholic Church. Is it possible to not be a part of this structure and still claim to be a part of the organization? That argument depends on what side of the fence you are on. On this side we would say no, on the other, many would say yes including many among certain segments of the Anglican Church.

The big news, IMHO, is when a congregation is united back to the Catholic Church. Of course that barely merits a mention in a tiny article on the back page of the comics amidst car sale ads. Good news (well, I am biased, I think it good news) doesn’t sell. Division sells, not unity.

Still, my heart goes out to the congregation of Saint Peter. When you reach a level of frustration that you feel so helpless what else is there to do? But now it is an impossible situation. Both sides, perhaps with all good intentions (and I am not saying that I could have suggested anything better) have set up a lose-lose situation. The two positions stand on either side of a balanced teeter totter waiting for the other move and start a chain of events. It will take tremendous grace, cooperation, understanding, sacrifice, effort, and good will for this not to end as a messy sword thrust and the gore spilling out upon the ground ending up on the front page of the paper. Some might even think it impossible.

The breaking away may not be seen as very Catholic, but the process certainly is one. Since the earliest days of the Church – even in the writings of the Bible, there is the constant testing and stretching of what it is to be Catholic. When a point has been taken too far, when the rules have been changed so much that a person is playing a different game, the Church defines herself and invites others to remain or depart. That’s why we have laws and rules – not because we sit around making laws and rules, but because somebody tried to do something and we had to think about how that does or does not play a part in the Catholic Christian faith. And today we see it played out in this most dramatic way.

RANT - COUNTER RANT: STAINED IDEAS

In her March 29th letter to the editor of the Plain Dealer, Carol Poh, an historic consultant wrote, “The Cleveland Catholic Diocese‘s determination to remove stained glass windows from churches it has closed is morally indefensible.”

Well, it may be thought indefensible, but I will try anyway.

I think I understand Ms Poh’s concern. As a person sensitive to such matters I share her passion. There are some buildings, non-ecclesial, that have been destroyed for progress’ sake that still gets my liturgical underwear in a bunch. But as well intentioned as Ms Poh may be, there is a history to examine that does not withstand her hope for a future for those windows or buildings.

The church closing that we see now are not the first to happen even in this diocese. Selling a building, even to another worshipping community, does not guarantee anything. In the past stained-glass windows have ended up in bars, homes, restaurants, and any number of other locations. Pews serve as booth seating, lighting fixtures in taverns, and any other number of architectural items ending up in all kinds of profane (in even the best sense of the word) uses. Can you imagine being part of a family that has donated a window to a parish, having the parish close, and then finding your window lit up as a piece of kitsch interior decorating at your local Applebees?

Further, suppose the buildings stay empty for a while which everyone expects a good number of them to be. Only so many can be turned into art galleries and community spaces. If there are two churches for sale in a failing city with a dwindling number of residents and resources, there might be hope that the buildings would be sold, occupied and cared for. But twenty? (And that’s just the Catholic ones. Nobody seems to care about the other church closings.)

And what do you suppose is the first bit of damage that will occur on these buildings? Rocks right through those windows. It happened horribly in Detroit. Then they are simply lost forever. Will Ms Poh or her firm insure these windows? Will she make sure that they are never sold by future tenants to be used in a way that might be insensitive to Catholics? Will she or her firm make sure that they are repaired and protected? Will she buy them from their rightful owner? My guess is not.

In the mean time the windows are removed and are repurposed, finding homes in new church buildings and old church buildings that never had them. Is this ideal? No. Is it better than what has happened to windows in the past? Ever so much so.

No plan is completely indefensible. There are some that are more sensible however. And it is easy to tear somebody else’s plan apart without coming up with another and putting up the resources to accomplish it.

IT'S ART FOR GOD'S SAKE!

YOU CAN PROBABLY GET JUST AS MUCH OUT OF THIS ARTICLE BY SKIPPING THE FIRST THREE PARAGRAPHS IF YOU WISH. I'M IN A BLABBERING MOOD TODAY.

Growing up in a “Rust Belt” big industry town it was interesting to see how far reaching the effects were when a factory laid off a tremendous amount of people or closed down all together. The immediate and obvious effects are the people in town who are now unemployed directly from the lay off. But that is only the splash, the ripples continue far out into the community often delayed by time and a certain slowness death.

Ancillary companies that provided services for the factory that closed experience a loss of income and possibly lay off people themselves if they too don’t go out of business all together. Restaurants, taverns, and like small-town business that serviced those who worked at the factory for such things as lunches, post work drinks, or uniforms then feel the pinch. Since there is less money to spend other businesses start feeling a strain – grocery stores, movie theaters, family restaurants, department stores and the like. If it lasts long there is the problem of people moving away. There is less of a tax base both from the factory and from those who used to live there. Without the tax base, schools suffer, city parks, and city services are strained. Now, the charities that helped those in need find that now that they are needed more than ever, their traditional places of gaining revenue are gone and the problem compounds.

SO FAR I THINK THAT I HAVE NOT TOLD YOU ANYTHING THAT YOU DON’T ALREADY KNOW. What you might be unaware of is how these strained times effect the businesses that rely on your parish to be solvent. One of those general categories of business would be the arts. I’ve railed against what passes as art in many parishes for some time. Of particular disdain in my personal book is “art” being purchased out of catalogues. Not that I am always and everywhere opposed to this but it is at least a little disheartening that an organization that is supposed to be “Patroness of the Arts” is so enthralled with mass produced art that one in every five churches in any given diocese has the exact same statue of the Virgin Mary in it.

But I semi-digress.

We are not hopeless however. In spite of that the Catholic Church has still been a rather important player in the art world. But there are twin disturbing trends sprouting up from a rotting root that are the direct result of parish closings, mergers, population drops, and belt tightening. The first is the loss of businesses that produce and maintain religious art for the Church. Businesses such as stained glass art studios and the like are closing down at an alarming rate. Today, when looking at a finely crafted chalice from even 50 years ago, we take great care of it because they cannot be reproduced. By and large the artists either do not simply exists anymore or it is no longer cost effective. It is much easier and cheaper to produce one stamped out by a machine or using a technique that does not require the skill and manpower hours. This is a trend that is likely to grow making some of our stepped down art of today more precious since even that will not be able to be reproduced in the future.

The second disturbing trend concerns the art being produced. If we do not support artists in their trade they will create art for those who will support them. Right now you can go to any large museum and see a tremendous amount of good art commissioned by the Church for religious purposes over the centuries. Will there be much from today? Or will it reflect a more secular, vulgar world?

The solutions are not easy. There is a certain amount of risk commissioning an original piece of art. You might be able to return a mass produced statue or chalice, not so something that took months of a man’s life to produce to your specifications. There is also the obstacle of cost involved. Maybe we should not be in such a rush to have our churches “finished.” There is also a certain amount of education that needs to go on also stressing the role and importance of art in our schools. And individual Catholics need to supports artists with prayer, encouragement, and even through personal commissions when possible. It's a matter of trying or ending up with churches that look like a cross between a gymnasium and a family room and art that consists of posters of good art from days gone by.

So I am putting my action where my mouth is. Because of this diatribe there may not be a post one day next week. More on that later. . .

RANT COUNTER RANT: DEVIOUS VS DEFIANT

There was a series of letters in the Plain Dealer the other day concerning a parish in the Diocese of Cleveland that began meeting on their own in a rented space when it was announced that their parish was closing. The three letters were placed under the heading “Defiant Parish or Devious Bishop?” The three letters were equally polar in their declarations. Of course each declared that Jesus was on their side.

All truth is almost never all on one side of any debate yet there is a tendency for this illusion to be touted as true and so in the end there can only be a winner and loser – nothing in between. Too bad.

Added to this debacle is the misinformation that is thrown around as fact. It says that the congregation stands against “great odds and threats . . .” Think about that for a moment. What could they possibly be threatened against? Can the bishop stop them in any way? Can he shut them down? Make them disperse? Take their money? Take their things? Control their minds so that it is impossible for them to pray? No. The fact is they can do exactly as they please. The only piece they cannot control is if they can carry the “Catholic” label on the tag in the back of their shirts.

The priest that is spear heading this movement is portrayed by the same writer as, “far more an example of what Christ is like than the bishop will ever be.” This is in reference to the priest starting his own church in order to minister to his people. It would be a fun exercise to see how this could be shown through Scripture and/or Tradition. You might be able to pull some select things out of context but the great themes in Scripture and Tradition are always about unity – particularly unity with one’s bishop and Church that was established by Jesus Christ. It is possible to deny this and most Christian denominations do, but then you stop playing on the Catholic playing field. At that point the bishop no longer is excommunicating anybody – he is simply recognizing that which already exists. There is a group of people who would rather not be connected to the local Catholic bishop. If you are not – you are not Catholic no matter what you want to believe.

Would Jesus be excited about what is happening the Diocese of Cleveland? Who knows? It is impossible to read the Divine Person’s mind. But I think I would be safe in saying this: Will anybody be kept from the sacraments by this decision of closing? I believe Jesus would say sacrifice all to stay close to the sacraments, to the universal Church, to the core of the faith.

The same could be said of your life. If it is choice between life and sacrificing your faith the only true path is the choice of the martyrs. It may be terrible – but we do not look for justice in this world but in the next.

ALL YOU GOTTA DO IS . . .

When I was in the seminary, Bishop Pilla came to speak to the seminarians as he was wont to do from time to time. He would give us a little talk and then open the floor for questions. This was about fifteen years ago and even then we were concerned about the upcoming priest shortage. So we asked the question, “Will we still be able to be priests to a parish or will we become sacramental machines running from church building to church building dispensing the sacraments but not really getting to know the people of each congregation?” He did say that it was not in the immediate offing but did not say that it would never happen in our lifetime.

It does happen in other dioceses. In fact it is not all that rare that a man might be ordained and almost instantly become the pastor of two or three parishes.

There was a letter to the editor today (I question some of the facts put forth but am not desirous of debating them) that put forth a solution to the priestly shortage problem and the desire of many to keep closed or closing parish from being shuttered. It was suggested that we do as the dioceses above did and simply have a priest make a circuit through town hitting each of the churches and offering the sacraments. That would certainly make sacraments available in more spots but then it would take away from other things. There are calls for priests to be more available at the parish for phone calls and appointments, (where is Father now?!), to teach in the school and PSR, to offer adult education, (write a blog), to go to the hospital, to come to parish events and meetings, or to come to some civic event and offer the opening prayer or what have you (not to mention diocesan meetings, vacations, retreats, continuing education, day away.) Priests start to disappear off the scene the further you stretch out the priest between parishes. Every move has its consequences. As much as I wish certain parishes would remain open I am very grateful not to have to spend my day in the car running from building to building.

The interesting thing to note is that this is not a simply a Catholic problem though we mostly only hear about it from a Catholic perspective for some reason. In my home town a number of Protestant congregations have merged and/or closed. There are a couple of Protestant Churches in the vicinity of St. Sebastian that are looking to downsize and have placed their buildings on the market. The population of northeast Ohio is dropping and it is dropping for everyone, not just Catholics.

Yesterday I went to Canton to visit a closing (Lutheran?) congregation. They have a wonderful pipe organ for sale. (HEY! I can dream can’t I?) I was able to engage the pastor of the congregation in conversation and she told me that she and her assistant take care of the parish that has three separate congregations that are housed in three separate (and worthy) buildings, all within spitting distance of each other. On any giving Sunday she and her assistant make the rounds going to each of the sites. “I get to see each congregation a couple of times a month,” she said. This system does preserve the community to some extent, but the connection to a pastor is a bit more distant and his or her connection to the day to day goings on at the parish become more tenuous.

In the end, there is the choice of having priests available and connected or preserving a particular congregation of people. It’s a tough choice. I know what I prefer as a priest but might be inclined to think differently if I was coming at it from the other side of the altar rail so to speak. There are no easy solutions.

There is this however: to work together for the strengthening of the Church, to build up our communities, to live the faith well, to support our institutions, to speak well of the faith and of (good) priests, to make known that religious and priestly vocations are good and viable options for our young folk, and that there is nothing, NOTHING, NOTHING more important than the Eucharist. Then we are far more likely to preserve what we have and build on it for the future so that we may need never face these choices again.