Archdiocese Turns to New Models as Church Attendance Falls
Posted on 04. Nov, 2009 by Nathaniel Adams in Religion
By Nathaniel Adams
Seven silver-haired men and women bow their heads in silent prayer after Wednesday night mass at St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church in Jersey City. The church was built for a congregation of hundreds, but attendance has been steadily dropping over time.
St. Anthony’s, founded in 1884, is the oldest Polish church in New Jersey. Back then, Jersey City was home to a large number of Polish immigrants and the church was built so that they could hear mass in their native language. Parish records report a congregation of almost 10,000 people at the turn of the century.
Today, there are an estimated 7,000 people of Polish descent living in Jersey City, out of a total population of approximately 240,000. According to church workers, the parish isn’t meeting the attendance standards of the Archdiocese of Newark, which governs the Catholic churches in Jersey City.
And it isn’t the only one. Holy Rosary Church, literally next door to St. Anthony’s, was founded in 1885 for Jersey City’s Italian immigrants. For over a century, both churches thrived side-by-side, but remained independent parishes. Facing the steady decline in attendance, however, the archdiocese has considered, among other options, merging the two historical parishes in the hopes that a consolidated congregation would make better use of the archdiocese’s resources. The Reverend Rino Lavoroni, 66, pastor of Holy Rosary, said he isn’t sure that a single church will solve the problem.
“Even if you put all the people in one,” he said in a thick Italian accent, “You don’t fill it.”
Waldemar Demorit, 58, building manager of St. Anthony’s and lifelong parishioner, said he is distrustful of the archdiocese and is against a merger. The problem isn’t that the churches aren’t making enough money, he said, but that the archdiocese knows it can make more by cutting the expenses of having two churches.
“Money and development – they win always in the United States,” he said.
According to spokesperson John Goodness, the Newark archdiocese is experiencing a symptom of a larger problem. He points to a recent poll in Parade Magazine claiming that although many Americans identify as “spiritual,” they are not going to church.
Commonly cited causes for the falling attendance rates are the cultural changes of the 1960’s, the increasingly busy lifestyles of even the most faithful families, and a tarnished image of the church after recent child abuse scandals. According to a study released by Gallup in April, Catholic Church attendance nationwide has declined steadily since the 1950’s.
“Jersey City is a city in change,” said Mr. Goodness. “It’s not only no longer as Catholic as it used to be, it’s also not as Christian.”
To face the challenge of a dwindling church going population, the archdiocese has tried to streamline its operation in Jersey City. Three models are being tried: the merged parish, linked parishes and partnerships.
In 1997, the Churches of St. Bridget, St. Mary, St. Peter, St. Michael, and St. Boniface were merged into Resurrection Parish, overseen by Pastor Victor Kennedy, a round, bearded man who putters around town on a small Vespa scooter. In 2006, St. Boniface closed in order to further consolidate the parish.
George Joseph, 56, attends St. Michael once a week to pray to St. Luke the Evangelist. Mr. Joseph also attends St. Mary’s sometimes, and finds it unfortunate that the churches aren’t as well-attended as they once were.
“There’s not enough priests, there’s not enough people. Jersey City is a small city,” he said. “Contributions are less. Everything is money and there’s not enough money to maintain the churches.”
Since the merging of the Resurrection Parish, the churches of Our Lady of Mercy and Our Lady of Sorrows have become linked parishes, as have Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. John the Baptist. Each of these pairs shares a pastor, but each church remains independent – with separate financial councils and congregations, but sharing common committees and planning programs cooperatively.
At the moment, Holy Rosary and St. Anthony’s form a partnership. Both churches are independent but share certain things, such as religious celebrations which would once have been observed separately. A merger isn’t on the immediate horizon, but the subject is a sensitive one for St. Anthony’s Pastor Joseph Urban, a usually gentle and soft-spoken man. When a merger is mentioned, Father Urban turns a shade of cardinal red and raises his voice in frustration:
“Stay away from the merger,” he yells. “Leave it alone!”
Throughout Jersey City, churches have been trying new approaches to survive. The downtown area’s other traditionally Polish church, Our Lady of Czestochowa, has rebranded itself and is playing down its ethnic history by using the abbreviation “O.L.C.” and eliminating the Polish-language Mass. Holy Rosary has added a traditional Latin-language mass to its Sunday schedule – one of only six churches in the entire Newark archdiocese, and the only church in Hudson County, to do so.
Changes are also taking place in some Jersey City parochial schools. In July of 2005 St. Patrick and Assumption All Saints became a merged parish and formed a single school, and this is the first year that Hudson Catholic Regional High School, once an all-male school, will admit female students.
Father Lavaroni said that such small changes have helped, but not much. He seems resigned, deeming the trend irreversible, and pointing out that the Bishop in Newark calls the shots.
“I’m obedient,” he said. “Whatever they tell me to do I do it.”
View Jersey City Churches in a larger map
A map of Jersey City’s Catholic Church. Linked Parishes are connected with purple lines, the merged Parish of the Resurrection is connected with blue lines, and the partnership of Holy Rosary and St. Anthony is marked with a red box.
In Hell’s Kitchen, a Church Tailors Outreach to Its Community
Posted on 27. Oct, 2009 by Candice Chan in Religion
REVERENCE FOR ART: Attendees of the show “God Doesn’t Like Ugly” at Church of St. Paul the Apostle, enjoyed works by fifteen artists on October 1st, 2009. The exhibition is one of the unique ways St. Paul’s has reached out to the community in the last few years.
By Candice Chan
The pews in the chapel at Church of St. Paul the Apostle are empty, and no priest stands in the pulpit to deliver a sermon. Hanging on the walls and nestled by St. Catherine’s altar and a cross bearing Jesus Christ are multi-colored paintings, cardboard bishops and a graphic design of Jesus holding the Apple Computers icon.
On October 1st, the Roman Catholic church at 60th Street and Columbus Avenue was transformed into a makeshift art gallery for the opening of its third annual art exhibition, God Doesn’t Like Ugly. Fifteen featured artists, the local art community and parishioners from St. Paul’s were brought together by the church’s artist outreach program, Openings.
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to come tonight,” said Akiko Ichikawa, 34, a self-proclaimed former Catholic and local artist. “I felt like the Paulists were trying to convert me.”
It’s a perception that many who aren’t affiliated with the Catholic Church are familiar with. Though in many ways St. Paul’s is a traditional Roman Catholic church, even built in 1885 to resemble early Italian cathedrals, the church’s progressive attitude is attracting new parishioners from the world of the arts and the gay and lesbian community of the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.
Since 2006, the parish has seen a growing lesbian and gay contingent that now comprises 15 percent of the Church’s registered members.
“Some people have told me, ‘I had no problem coming out gay, I had a problem coming out Catholic,’” said Father Gil. “They’re perceived as ‘giving into the oppressor’ and sometimes have difficulty being accepted by other gay guys.”
With a gay leadership committee, prayer groups and even social mixers geared towards gay parishioners, the church has carved out a niche for a previously estranged group. The priest’s outreach to the gay community is a bold move. Just nine months ago, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed that the church “demands that the order of creation be respected.”
But, Father Gil said, Catholic doctrine actually calls for a separate gay and lesbian ministry. The only catch is the ministry’s central focus on celibacy. Since Catholic doctrine holds that unmarried couples are supposed to remain celibate, the church maintains an overt don’t ask-don’t tell mentality with both homosexual and heterosexual couples.
“Father Gil is very overt about it,” said J.P. Regalado, 32, one of the featured artists in God Doesn’t Like Ugly. “When he has a sermon, he’ll say, ‘Well, everyone has to be accepted if you’re gay or you’re straight.”
St. Paul’s isn’t the only Roman Catholic church who welcomes the gay community into its parish. St. Francis Xavier Church in Chelsea is widely known in the city for its gay population and ministry, but St. Paul’s is the only church in the neighborhood that has doubled as an occasional art gallery.
Father Frank Sabatté, founder of the art ministry and director of the Openings exhibit, said the new parishioners are helping the church as much as the church may be helping them.
“This is a place where we can have a conversation,” Father Sabatté said. “It’s an exchange that’s changing both of us.”
In the last two years Father Sabatté, who is an artist that works in embroidery and sculpture, attended 200 art exhibitions and openings. Some were at local galleries, but many were at the School of the Visual Arts, Hunter College, Cooper Union and even Columbia University to meet new artists and find out what inspires them. Father Sabatté came to New York City after the Paulist fathers asked him to work on artist outreach. In doing so, he has attracted local art enthusiasts who would never have thought of stepping into a church. He said art is a tool he uses to communicate with others about spirituality.
“Many of these people have never had a priest talk to them,” said Father Sabatte. “They’ve been alienated or hurt, and many are ex-Catholics. They’re just happy that the church is listening.”
But not all members of the church are happy with the new parishioners. Each time St. Paul’s announces an event for the gay and lesbian community from the pulpit, the priests receive at least half a dozen letters from parishioners with questions. Three letters in the last two years have been from parishioners who decided to leave the church.
Yet, the vast majority of their community is supportive and open.
“This is their church, too,” said Kathleen McGrath, 82. “It’s not our place to question their lifestyle. That’s between [them] and God. They have a home here.”
McGrath has been part of the St. Paul’s community for over 40 years. She said the church has always been open, but in the last few years new staff has pushed community outreach resulting in much more parish diversity.
On October 1st, almost 300 gatherers came to St. Paul’s to admire the artwork on display. A confluence of long-time parishioners, local artists and their friends enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, wine, and good company strolling from altar to altar, gazing at artwork.
“We’re trying to bridge gaps by being present,” Father Gil said.
A New Start at a Catholic School in Bay Ridge
Posted on 24. Oct, 2009 by Taylor Brown in Education, Religion
By Taylor Kate Brown
On the second morning of school, Rosemarie Diaz, a secretary at Holy Angels Catholic Academy in Bay Ridge, is still enrolling new students. The mother of a new student asks questions about the uniforms in a nearby display case; they sport the logo of a shield with a wing sprouting from each side. A class waiting in the hallway chimes a hello, in chorus, to their principal.
Just a few months ago, parents and teachers feared the school would close for good after years of decreasing enrollment.
Instead, Holy Angels is one of several schools to reopen this year under an independent Catholic academy model, where each school, administered by a board of directors comprised solely of laypeople, is legally and financially independent of the parish. The parish priest and the bishop of the diocese remain responsible for keeping the school Catholic.
The Roman Catholic Diocese in Brooklyn hopes to convert all its financially struggling schools to the academy model by August 2013. Last year, around 35,000 students attended 111 elementary schools within the diocese.
The journey from Our Lady of Angels School to Holy Angels Catholic Academy started last January, when the diocese announced that the parish school of the 4th Ave church would be one of 11 schools in Brooklyn and Queens closed at the end of the academic year. Parents and teachers found out about the school’s closing when a reporter stood waiting outside the gates, garnering reaction to the diocese’s press release.
“We were hurt in the way that it happened,” Rachel Connolly, the Parent’s Association president and mother of two children at the school, said.
Rosemarie McGoldrick, the school’s principal, said she expected to have two years to prove herself. Instead, the announcement of the school’s closing shocked her mid-way through her first year as principal.
“I’d come from a parish that closed its school because it didn’t have the money. We [Lady of Angels] had money,” she said.
Our Lady of Angels School received an endowment of $1 million from Phillip Whitcomb, an alumni, upon his death. Plus, the school rents out part of the 36,000-square foot building to Treasure Island, a day care, and to HeartShares, a human service agency. Parish and school finances usually didn’t mix, with the exception of a shared bookkeeper between the two accounts.
Instead, the school suffered from low enrollment. By the time of the diocese’s announcement, the total number of students for Pre-K to 8th grade had fallen to under 180. The target for all Brooklyn diocese elementary schools is at least 200.
According to McGoldrick, four Catholic schools in the immediate area and 20 years worth of speculation that the school would be the first to close, didn’t help enrollment numbers.
“Bay Ridge is a small town,” McGoldrick said, adding there were some concerns with the prior school administration.
“The perception was not positive.”
Connolly and other parents were determined to keep the school open. They set up a phone bank to gauge interest in the school if it did stay open. An online petition to “Save Our Lady of Angels School” garnered more than 850 signatures.
“It’s a special place,” Roseann Raccuia, an alumna and now the school nurse, said, “And [closing the school] affects the whole community. We have the seniors’ leisure club, scouts, and speakers here.”
McGoldrick, Fusco and two parish priests worked on a proposal to convince the diocese that the school could switch successfully to the model the diocese had proposed as part of a long-term solution to an ailing Catholic school system.
There were several items in their favor: the endowment, a school building with an auditorium, gymnasium and a whole unused floor, plus a promise from McGoldrick to increase enrollment. Superintendent Tom Chadzutko said the school’s commitment to stay open, as well as a realistic plan for the future, convinced him.
In the end, eight of the eleven schools did close, but Holy Angels is one of seven new academies in the diocese this year. In May, the original school closed and the entire staff had to apply again for their jobs. Not all were hired back. Even Mary Brennan, a Pre-K teacher who has worked at the school for 25 years, had to interview for her own position.
“There were questions as if you hadn’t worked here before, like ‘What would you bring to Holy Angels?’” Brennan said.
She said she is glad the school remains open and notes the teachers will be involved in more extra-curricular activities, like after-school arts-and-crafts.
“All eyes are on us, we’re like the guinea pig,” she said.
As of the second day of school, Holy Angels’ enrollment stands at 217.
Left Without Mosque During Eid, Muslims Make Do in the Bronx
Posted on 20. Oct, 2009 by Lim Wui Liang in Religion
STREET PRAYERS: A passerby walks by the temporary site of the Islamic Cultural Center during a prayer session. The Center, which is also a mosque, was burnt down on Sept. 17, 2009. Photo: Lim Wui Liang
As dusk arrives, some 30 men huddle barefoot inside an empty shop at the corner of East 166th Street and College Avenue in the Bronx. Blue tarpaulin covers the concrete floor. At the door, shoes and slippers spill out onto the sidewalk.
A group of six Hispanic youths are gathered outside, watching. Suddenly, a teenage girl shouts. “Hey you guys should take your s**t one block down!”
Another youth suggests that they steal their shoes.
The men ignore the threats. One of them begins to pray and everyone kneels. Dressed in different colored salwar kameez, the traditional garb for Muslim men and women, they bow and press their heads to the floor in unison.
It is time to break their fast for today.
For the West African members of the Islamic Cultural Center, praying in full view of passers-by on the street is unusual. But they have no choice. On Sept. 17, the center, which is also a mosque, burned down and left its 300 members without a house of worship. Police said the fire was started with an electrical spark in the basement.
The increased visibility of the members of the Islamic Cultural Center coincides with the recent heightened scrutiny of the Muslim community in New York. On Sept. 14, FBI agents raided several apartments of Afghan immigrants in Queens who had come into contact with a suspected terrorist, Najibullah Zazi, who was arrested in Denver on Sept. 19.
The fire occurred just three days before Eid, which marks the end of the Islamic month of fasting. On the same day, city officials handed the keys of three vacant lots, two blocks away from the Islamic center, to members of the mosque. Immediately, the community cleaned up the units and, in less than a day, their new mosque was ready – albeit a spartan one.
The night of the fire, Bakary Camara, 45, a committee member of the mosque, was having dinner with the borough president when he received a call from a friend. He rushed down to the mosque, which was three blocks away, and watched helplessly with other Muslims who had gathered while firemen worked to put out the flames. Fire shot through the top of the single story building, but no one was killed.
“The roof came down and all the prayer mats were covered in dirt,” recalled Camara.
The grocery store beside it was not spared either. Firemen had to stop its owner, Hamidou Gumaneh, 56, from entering the store to salvage his belongings.
“I’ve got nothing with me now,” he said.
For many, the fire triggered memories of a tragedy two years ago in Highbridge, the southwestern neighborhood of the Bronx, when 10 Malian immigrants, including eight children, were killed in a fire that started from the basement and spread to the entire building in minutes.
Pablo Chevere Jr., 52, who volunteers at the mosque, remembers a time when a nightclub used to stand in its place.
“There were all kinds of vice, prostitution and shootings,” he said. “The cops would come here many times and they would have to scoop somebody off from the ground.”
The club got closed down and the mosque was built.
“There was a problem at first with the residents,” said Chevere. “But when they saw that we were about peace, they left us alone.”
“We got people converted to Islam too.”
On the morning of Sept. 20, the members of Islamic Cultural Center held their Eid prayers on the street for the first time. An estimated 1,500 worshippers -dressed in orange, red, green, yellow and blue- occupied East 166th Street, which was closed to traffic for two blocks. They lined the asphalt with tarpaulin sheets, and when the call for prayers began, transformed the street into a multi-colored spectacle.
After the prayers, Essa Touray, 37, went around with a cardboard box asking for donations to rebuild the mosque.
