This blog post was originally written for our sister site, Keep the Faith in Frankford.org.
Please take the time to read this blog post that has a recent interview with reporter, Joyce Evans, Fox 29 news, and our pastor, Father Thomas Higgins. My video response follows.
We Possess Divine Truths But Is Our Hierarchy Listening To Our Human Truths, Too?
Please let me know what you think! Thank you and God bless you!
This sounds like a score in a professional sport but there are no winners or losers, just lost opportunities of “renewing the face of the earth” and sharing the Good News that God loves us and wants us to love each other. How simple that would make everything if we truly took the two great commandments to heart. Love God with your whole heart, mind and body and love each other as we would want to be loved. But that’s not the case, especially here in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Please read Bob Huber’s article, “Archbishop Charles Chaput: The Hardliner” for in-depth reporting of our local Shepherd and how he is tending his flock. While Pope Francis calls for a new “openness” yet the faithful wonder how many more “closed” signs will be posted here in Philadelphia?
I am Pat Smiley. We are Keep the Faith in Frankford/St. Joachim Parish. We are ready to stand with you? Who will stand with us?
From Pat Smiley – David Harris, a member of St. Joachim Parish and a Board Member of Keep the Faith in Frankford researched articles relating to events of 1993 where 14 churches and 7 schools were closed – mostly in very low income areas though most of these churches were financially viable. The similarities to our recent PPA Process are remarkable even to the point of concerned parishioners forming “Catholic Coalition to Save Our Faith”. We hope to reconnect with the members of this group. David shares his thoughts with us here.
Hello, most people hear the word anniversary and their minds immediately drift to a joyous occasion of a wedding. Many of us in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia just had an anniversary of three years, two years or one year. Many more have just had their twenty second anniversary of the Demise of their Parish Communities.
Back in 1993, twenty-one Parishes were closed/merged but without today’s 
technology of being constantly connected, many of the fellow Philadelphia Catholics only saw or read about these communities. They figured it wasn’t affecting my Parish. Some of the members of these Parishes lifted their voices towards their shepherd Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, but he didn’t listen or chose not to listen. Instead, he decided that the Archdiocesan Shore House in Ventnor, NJ needed to be remodeled and rehabilitated to accommodate more guests. Many of these Parishes were in what many would call “poverty-stricken” areas of Chester, PA and in North Philadelphia but some of them were still self-sufficient and viable. Cardinal Bevilacqua was celebrated for his eagerness to meet with his flock in many of their Parish Communities, but he would not meet with these grief-stricken members of these twenty-one Parish communities. Instead, he used his Archdiocesan spokesman at that time, Jay Devine, to answer the questions posed to him by the press.
This brings me to the present day with our technology of being able to constantly connect to news media outlets and to speak with one another without having to dial a phone number. We mournfully see the anniversaries of the demises of our Parish Communities grow in years. We have cried to our leaders and, much like the voices of those twenty-one Parishes in 1993, those cries have fallen on the deaf ears of our Shepherd who is now the ninth Archbishop of the Archdiocese. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput O.F.M Cap., DD. He does have many financial burdens and he has since sold that Ventnor residence and he has sold the Cardinal’s mansion on City Line Ave.
Many of our fellow Catholics do not look at our Parish Communities as examples of our faith but as a drain on the coffers of the Archdiocese because we are from working-class neighborhoods or towns and yet we gave of our hard earned money to keep these parishes viable and many with a surplus. Archbishop Chaput refuses to meet with us face to face and only uses his Archdiocesan spokesperson, Ken Gavin, when the local print or TV media poses any questions to him about our plight. Archbishop might not have that Ventnor residence to rehabilitate or remodel, but he is still needed to balance the books of earlier fiscal mismanagement, so he agreed along with the Pastoral Planners it is better 
to close financial solvent parishes with assets like rented schools and other parish buildings to increase the cash flow and bottom line.
We believe that Our Lord is calling out to Archbishop Chaput to help the marginalized of his Archdiocese. They are the ones that He, Himself, cared for during his ministry.
Sources:
“7 Schools to Close in Phila., Chester The Cardinal Named One More than Expected. Fourteen Parishes Will be Closed, Too, As The Archdiocese Downsizes.“
“Catholics Must Fight the Closings”
“Schools and Churches Close, Angering Catholics”
For almost 2 years, we have been asking this question and no one from the Archdiocese will meet with us or talk to us. Unless efforts are made to review and reverse some of the 46 church closings in the last three years, we would have to answer a resounding “Yes” to that question. To learn more of the reasons why we feel this way, please take the time to read a recent post, “Our God of Surprises”.
Organized by Keep the Faith in Frankford and Philly Catholics, please join us as we ask for the Parish Pastoral Planning Process to be redone!
For more info, please call Pat Smiley, 215.520.5616. Thank you and God bless you!
From Elizabeth Eiland Figueroa – “May the God of Surprises Delight You”
May the God of Surprises delight you, inviting you to accept gifts not yet imagined.
May the God of Transformation call you, opening you to continual renewal.
May the God of Justice confront you, daring you to see the world through God’s eyes.
May the God of Abundance affirm you, nudging you towards deeper trust.
May the God of Embrace hold you, encircling you in the hearth of God’s home.
May the God of Hopefulness bless you, encouraging you with the fruits of faith.
May the God of Welcoming invite you, drawing you nearer to the fullness of God’s expression in you.
May God Who is Present be with you, awakening you to God in all things, all people, and all moments.
May God be with you.
Amen.
I needed some time today because I will admit as happy as I was for those parishes that will remain open, my heart was thinking of those of us who have suffered through the PPA process. At the end of June, it will be two years since St. Joachim and Mater Dolorosa closed in Frankford. I don’t know where the time went but I do know the fervor of our efforts has not diminished since then. I hope you like the above prayer and understand that we believe in God’s will and His power to change what we think has been the terrible wrongs over the last 3 years.
How many of us were surprised today reading the “Archdiocese Announces Results of Recent Parish Pastoral Planning in Philadelphia as Well as Delaware and Montgomery Counties”? We truly celebrate with our brothers and sisters in the Pastoral Planning Areas of 330 (Delaware County – I have family there with whom I have been praying), 420 and 570 whose parishes have been given more time and support to strengthen needed areas of weakness or to continue already successful ministries.
My church, St. Joachim closed in 2013, but I have always said this issue was much bigger than St. Joachim. We need to understand that the parishes of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia are not islands. “For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another” (Romans 12: 4-5). Since the first church merged/closed in 2012, concerned Catholics have believed and worked to convey that this Parish Pastoral Planning Process is unfair, exclusionary, unequally applied and had preplanned outcomes. What have we achieved in the last 3 years? This – today’s announcement by the Archbishop and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. As Job suffered many trials, we, too, can say, “Your own mouth condemns you, not I; your own lips refute you” (Job: 15: 6). Here are further reasons that demand that the PPA process be reviewed and redone:
There has been great dissolution and sadness in our Archdiocese. Thank you for reading and caring about the future of our faith here in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. God bless you! God bless us all!
We will be taking future action and are planning a walk/drive and rally on May 31st. Please save the date and plan to join us. We need you and you need us! In the meantime, we await more surprises from our God!
Please email this link to everyone you know who cares about the 40+ churches that have closed or merged in the last 13 months! Spread the Word! Spread the Good News! Churches are important, not just to us as Catholics, but our neighborhood communities as well! Join us! We’ll be waiting for you!
Please email this link to everyone you know who cares about the 40+ churches that have closed or merged in the last 13 months! Spread the Word! Spread the Good News! Churches are important, not just to us as Catholics, but our neighborhood communities as well! Join us! We’ll be waiting for you!
As Archbishop Chaput continues to close churches and refuses to meet with the faithful, area Catholics struggle to understand. As a member of St. Joachim Parish (and we do have an open Appeal in the Vatican), we learned last year that “the decision has been made and we are not considering any changes”. From Philly.com, “Archbishop Nixes Appeals by Five Closed Parishes”.
Personally, I would respectfully ask the Archbishop to rethink this policy. Evidence is mounting and even more credible that the Area Pastoral Planning Process is severely flawed. Every parish we have spoken to, has had the same experience that we, at St. Joachim, have had. All parishioners were not consulted and recommendations of the PPA’s have been overturned at the highest level without any explanation at all to the reasoning or the logic. This process needs to be reviewed and redone. The history of our neighborhood parishes is deep and rich. Our needs today require that we unite and become “One body, One church” whether we are from Marcus Hook or Montgomeryville, South Philly or Swarthmore. Only then, can we be heard.
We call on the Archbishop, as our Shepherd here in Philadelphia, and urge him as stated by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) referring to 1 Peter 5:1-4 to be that “example” for us:
“So I exhort the presbyters among you, as a fellow presbyter and witness to the suffering of Christ and one who has a share in the glory to be revealed. Tend the flock of God in your midst, [overseeing] not by constraint, but by willingness as God would have it, not for shameful profit, but eagerly. Do not lord it over those assigned to you, but be examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
The mighty wind of the Spirit is stirring throughout this Archdiocese to ask for an honest and earnest discussion about the future of the Catholic Church in Philaelphia and its surrounding suburbs. This Spirit is inclusive and urges that all the voices of the faithful be heard. Can you hear it, Archbishop Chaput? Do you feel it? Perhaps it’s time for a new direction, a new course?
photo credit: Jaimito Cartero via photopin cc