Sadness and Anger at Church Closings, by Kristen A. Graham, Philadelphia Inquirer, April 4, 2008

Sadness and Anger at Church Closings

By Kristen A. Graham
Philadelphia Inquirer
April 4, 2008

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20080404_Sadness_and_anger_at_church_closings.html

Mark Drayton stood on a North Camden sidewalk, shaking his head in disbelief.

Holy Name Church, one of the roughly 30 Diocese of Camden parishes, closing outright? Drayton was devastated.

"It's the strongest church in this community," the lifelong Camden resident, 49, said yesterday. "It's going to break up the neighborhood."

Drayton is not Catholic, and he has never worshiped at the church. But he remembers playing outside when he was young, and has thought of the church as a safe haven all these years.

"They march, they stop drugs. If a family needs food, they'll help out. They'll do anything for the people," Drayton said of Holy Name parishioners and staff.

"It's the strongest church in this community," Mark Drayton of Camden says, reacting to plans to shut Holy Name Church. Though not a Catholic, he sees the church as valuable to North Camden.
Photo by Laurence Kesterson

Residents say churches are enormously important to beleaguered Camden, providing social services and gathering places for residents. Under the plan announced by the Diocese of Camden yesterday, the city's nine Catholic parishes will shrink to seven.

Holy Name and St. Bartholomew will close outright.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Fatima will merge with Holy Name and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, with the primary worship site at the cathedral. But residents will still be able to attend Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Fatima.

St. Joan of Arc and St. Bartholomew will merge, with parishioners from the latter moving to St. Joan of Arc. That church will cluster, or share a pastor, with Sacred Heart.

Sister Helen Cole, who runs Guadalupe Family Services, the social-work agency affiliated with Holy Name, said that if the church were a business, parishes would have been closed long ago.

Though the church will be closing, her agency, a law center and a medical center, will all remain in place, and that's a relief, she said.

"We're all going to be really sad about the church," Sister Helen said. "As much as people don't want to leave our church, there is some understanding that something's got to give."

Sister Helen, who is one of 100 people diocese-wide trained in helping parishioners cope with the impending changes, said she's prepared to help people grieve for a church many families consider home.

"It's going to be hard - the choirs are established, the groups are established," Sister Helen said. "But I hope that people will choose to be Catholic and to continue to worship in new ways."

Yolanda Aguilar DeNeely, a parishioner at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Fatima, called herself "a very angry woman" yesterday.

She had helped organize a march to protest the church's closing, and sent the bishop a lengthy letter.

"I had hoped against hope," Aguilar DeNeely said. "They should not touch one church in Camden."

Though she's glad her church building will at least remain open for Mass, shifting resources elsewhere frightens her.

"What will a merger look like?" she asked. "Are we have-nots going to be directed by the haves?"

With all Camden's problems, Aguilar DeNeely said, it can't afford to lose any fortresses.

"Camden is suffering," she said. "The church is our strength."

Bishop Joseph Galante said he hoped that those churches closed outright would be used by their new parishes for other purposes. Perhaps old buildings can be used for vital social services, he suggested.

"We've tried to be very sensitive to the needs of the poor," Galante said.

Still, some residents were unconvinced yesterday, even brainstorming ways to reverse the Diocese decision.

Drayton, the North Camden resident who laments the impending closure of Holy Name, says people might pitch in to help keep the church alive.

"Even if we as a community have to keep it afloat, we should do that," Drayton said.

Contact staff writer Kristen Graham at 856-779-3970 or kgraham@phillynews.com.