We Are Endangered. Please Give Us Money.
This is how Endangered Catholics has decided to protest church closings in the Cleveland Diocese. Full text:
ENDANGERED CATHOLICS
Cleveland, Ohio
www.endangeredcatholics.org
How You Can Stop Church Closings
Church closings are coming faster now (1). Weekly we are losing vibrant, solvent parishes -- bulwarks of neighborhoods, spiritual homes to thousands.
Many are disgusted by this abuse of power by Bishop Richard G. Lennon and need a path for protest.
We Catholics have the power to stop these closings. The solution? A diocesan-wide boycott of the Sunday collections, starting immediately.
This would give all the faithful a voice. It would tie all parishes together as one diocese, one “body.” (2)
The boycott should continue until Bishop Lennon agrees to mediation with each parish protesting its closing. Until then, our weekly offerings can be deposited in escrow, contributed to local charities, or, by canon law, your contribution can be designated for maintenance of your parish only (utilities, payroll, etc.) which is not subject to being assessed by the Diocese of Cleveland.
We Catholics have the opportunity and the responsibility as stewards of our Catholic faith to act and to act NOW. Many of our brothers and sisters are praying for our help.
Let us not abuse our power by failing to exercise it. (3)
Please contribute to our cause – See website above (4)
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Tear off and deposit in offertory collection basket.
Dear Pastor,
I object to the arbitrary closing of many vibrant, solvent parishes in the Diocese of Cleveland. Therefore, I will withhold any further financial contributions to any Roman Catholic Church until Bishop Richard Lennon agrees to mediation with each parish protesting its closing.
Here are my thoughts on the constituent parts of this flier which I've numbered for your convenience:
(1) What does this mean, "coming faster"? Is this just a Jedi mind trick to increase the sense of urgency? Everybody has known for months on end which churches were going to be closing. Three churches were even left open from the original list: St. Colman, St. Stephen and another one I forgot.
(2) Uhhh, we are all tied together as one diocese. Well, except for the breakaway St. Peter parish which is being supported by the same people. So forgive me if I view this presentation of the ideal of unity as somewhat disingenuous.
(3) So you see if you don't withhold funding of a Catholic diocese you are abusing your power? Where's that in Canon Law?
(4) Yeah, was wondering what to do with all this extra cash.
Let me axe these people who feel endangered a question: Was the threat of being defunded by the parishioners of St. Stephen or St. Colman church what changed the Diocese's mind about closing them? This is all so silly and I'd laugh if I believed that former priest Bob Kloos and the others behind this effort seriously thought that this effort would work. This is agitation and messaging pure and simple.
I thought St. Ignatius was the other one that stayed open. I have no idea about its solvency, but I thought it a shame that a church right by a Catholic high school should be closed.
ReplyDeleteOur church is in the process of downsizing. We are two blocks from St. Prokop's in Cleveland, and people don't want to attend church in "the 'hood." We are no longer a thriving neighborhood church. We are a church of people who drive in from other places for what we receive at our church. And our pastor does do local "ministry" in the area with the Second District Police, but we have not acquired regular members through this. So I can easily understand, sadly, why so many Catholic churches have closed.
Think you're right about Ignatius, Barb. I'm grateful that St. Stephen's stayed open--it's an incredible example of craftsmanship and artistic beauty. We go there for the Latin Mass from time to time.
ReplyDeleteI think it is totally sad that some of these churches are closing. Mainly I disagree with the methods that Endangered Catholics is using, not the idea that you can protest a closing. You just have to do it respectfully and handing the Bishop a bag with 30 pieces of silver in it is not respectful.
But the truth is that at least some of these churches were poorly maintained and not updated. It's a fact. I used to go to Opus Dei meetings at Sacred Heart in Cleveland. It's an ethnic Church and I'm sure the parishioners are wonderful people. But the place was not updated--there is no A/C and when the heater kicks on it sounds like Animal from the Muppets doing a drum solo. So the physical plant has to be taken into account, not just these parishes' bank balances which keeps being brought up again and again.
You don't want to look to closely at St. Patrick's on the West Side either. The decor looks like 1970s and the sign outside needs a better paint job. It has all the marks of a church where many people simply quit going and the rest quit caring. Go down the road to Ascension and there are 500 people at a Mass--I've been there. The architecture bites IMAO and it's pretty charismatic which is not my bag, but there are people packed in there. I really have to go back to question "what is the bishop supposed to do?"
That's why we are leaving the building we are in, is because we simply can't afford to maintain it with the size of our congregation. It is a beautiful building, and it's a shame to leave it behind, but we must. No A/C, but our heater does not resemble any kind of animal. However, we have to keep the storm windows on the stained glass even in the summer, or the stained glass will be broken. We have to deal with graffiti on our building. Our parking lot must be swept up every Sunday of broken glass and other debris.
ReplyDeleteUnless your bishop forces people to attend one church or another willy-nilly, I don't see how he can do anything. And force is not productive. Closings were respectfully protested, from what I remember, which is why you have the three that will remain open. To paraphrase Don Rumsfeld, you have to work with the churches you have and the people you have.
"Solvent"? Why does Endangered Catholics hate poor people?
ReplyDeleteAnd the demographic patterns you have.
ReplyDeleteThat brings up another point that I think some of the angrier protesters want to avoid. Everyone talks about how people moving to the suburbs is the major reason for shrinking city congregations and subsequent church closings. But I'm not sure that is entirely true.
People leave the church, they quit going. I met a woman from the east side who told me that she was Catholic and that she still said the Rosary, but she didn't "go to church" because "those people were all hypocrites", etc. If you do nothing to educate these people and win them back and explain why mass is the center of a Catholic's spiritual life, then they won't come back.
In my opinion, in the 60's and 70's there was a "hands off" approach implemented WRT people who left the Church. It was probably an over-reaction against telling people they were sinners, going to hell, etc., but a better approach is to calmly and lovingly tell people they needed to come back to the sacraments.
I know a priest who was parochial vicar at a parish in Pittsburgh where the pastor of the church just stayed in his room most of the time reading books and working on scholarly writings of his own. My friend told me that the people there were TOTALLY ignorant of the faith. They'd been neglected for decades.
That's one of the big problems I have with the "rail against the Bishop" mode of protesting. You're in effect "shooting the messenger" of the bad news, not attacking the root of the problem. The rosy pictures created by even the more sincere among the protesters ignore all of the spiritual realities I'm mentioning.
Good point, Tom, although I wouldn't phrase it that way. I notice on their site that they don't protest the closing of Sacred Heart in Cleveland (not to be confused with the Sacred Heart in Akron). That might be because SH in Cleveland truly is poor and therefore not a good "argument" for their side.
ReplyDeleteIf you are truly going to say "OK: the Gospel teaches us to bear one another's burdens, so we're going to do whatever it takes to keep ALL the churches open" then you have a better point. But that goes to my larger point about Endangered Catholics Coalition: they don't really care about any of these churches closing. The misfortune of these parishioners is merely a tool for agitation to them.
Easy for me to say from booming D/FW, but isn't the Cleveland metro area also losing population in absolute numbers? If there were parishes on the edge to begin with, taking an x% hit in overall population can't help the situation.
ReplyDeleteAm curious also about the effect of mega-churches up your way. They are a big deal down here. While I don't personally know any people who have left the Church for a megachurch, I certainly have heard of lapsed Catholics who go to one now.
In any event, we must continue to pray for vocations, wherever we are.
Cleveland is losing population, yes. And people staying in greater Cleveland are moving to the suburbs, yes.
ReplyDeleteMegachurches--don't think the effect is as pronounced around here. I have met a lot of people who've left the Catholic church, however, and become regular church-goers at a Protestant church.
I think there's a perception of weakness because the diocese has to close churches. That perception is IMO what is driving Endangered Catholics to "strike" at this moment and attempt to agitate as much as possible. I wish people would see through this. Regardless of any mistakes made by the Diocese and the Bishop they are not nearly as destructive as Endangered Catholics.