BishopAccountability.org
	Many Voice Sense of Loss By Jim Walsh and Matt Katz Courier-Post April 4, 2008 http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080404/NEWS01/804040374/1006/news01 James Sauer was bringing boxes of donated food to an unemployed single mom at St. Maria Goretti Church when he got the word Thursday: His Runnemede parish, after more than 40 years, is being merged with another. "I don't see how it will work," said Sauer, who lives down the block from the church he helped found in 1965. "When you've been associated with a particular place for so long, it's hard to see it dissolved." Sauer, who now expects to worship at another Catholic church, seemed somewhat shocked by the announcement. But the mother he was helping, April McWilliams of Runnemede, was absolutely crushed. "When I go to other churches, they say, "This isn't the food day,' but these people give me their home phone numbers," said McWilliams, holding her 2-year-old son, Joseph. "It's horrible. It's so sad because they're awesome people, so giving." A restructuring program unveiled Thursday by Bishop Joseph Galante will change the landscape of Catholic South Jersey. The number of parishes is to fall from 124 to 66 in the Camden Diocese, primarily through mergers, like that of St. Maria Goretti with St. Teresa in Runnemede. Ironically, St. Maria Goretti was carved out of St. Teresa's parish in 1965. The planned mergers won't just affect parishioners. Their impact could reverberate through a community, where the fate of iconic structures and the land they sit on is unknown. Galante said he understands some people will be upset by the changes, which he said were needed to strengthen the diocese. "I realize the hope that we feel at this time . . . will be mingled with apprehensions and feelings of loss over what was," he said. Galante said the diocese will send more than 100 "multi-trained facilitators" to help parishioners deal with their sense of loss. In Clayton, members of St. Catherine of Siena Parish reacted emotionally as they picked up their children at the parish's regional school. David Burnett, 38, broke the news of a pending merger to his daughter, Bailey, 10, when she was dismissed from school. "We're not going to have a church? What are we going to do?" she said, her eyes widening. "What church are we going to go to? It's not fair." Said Laurie Haines, 46, of Glassboro, "It's devastating because this church was like a family." "It's part of who you are," said Cheryl DeVecchis, 39, a kindergarten teacher at the parish school. Under the bishop's plan, more than 20 churches in Camden and Gloucester counties will not be used for religious services after parish mergers. Pastors of the merged parishes will decide on the fate of the buildings, which could be sold or used for other purposes, said Andrew Walton, a diocesan spokesman. Some parishioners, like Gertrude Bunting of Brooklawn, grappled with conflicting emotions. "You're raised a Catholic all of your life, and I love my religion," said Bunting, whose church -- St. Maurice in Brooklawn -- is to be merged with St. Anne of Westville and Annunciation of Bellmawr. "And I will go to church, but I'm annoyed, and I'm upset." Amy McCloe, a member of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Somerdale, was even more disheartened. Her parish is merging with two others in Stratford and Lindenwold. "I feel let down about my church right now. Something's been lost," she said. McCloe said she won't send her youngest child to Catholic grammar school and that she's thinking about trying out other faiths. She also noted some of her despondence results from the priest sex-abuse scandal. "You have to ask yourself why you have less and less people sending their kids to Catholic school and less and less people going to Catholic Mass," said McCloe. Father Anthony Minniti pastor of St. John the Evangelist in Paulsboro, expects to be moved to another post due to that parish's planned merger. "It's hard. It's difficult," he said, noting Sunday Mass attendance has been steady at about 300 people. "But hopefully it's for the best." Tara Reinerth, who lives next door to the parish rectory, said she and her husband bought their Beacon Avenue home to be near the church. "My first reaction is "Oh no,' " she said, expressing concern that the church property might one day be converted to apartments. "I don't want a parking lot along the side of my house. "This town doesn't have a lot to hold onto," she said. "Everything beautiful and historical, they're slowly disappearing. It makes me sad." And that's why it wasn't just Catholics who took the news hard Thursday. Neighbors of churches that could be sold or converted to different uses said they also felt the loss. "I could sit in my kitchen and look at the statue over there, framed by my back door like a picture frame," said Joanne Kern, who lives near Holy Maternity in Audubon. "It's a shame." At the Primrose Gate neighborhood in Winslow, resident Mike Hurst, 70, said he wasn't concerned about possible development at the site of St. John Neumann Church. Hurst believes another church would likely express interest in buying the property. "And that would be OK," he said. Indeed, a potential suitor could be found in Christ Care Missionary Baptist, which sits 50 yards away from St. John. Bobby Harris, who is in charge of fundraising for the Baptist church, said: "We would like to obtain the property, but we're really not sure yet if we can." Tom Hannigan in Magnolia fears the loss of a neighbor he has had behind his house for 50 years, St. Gregory Church. "It's a sad day for the town. When you take that out of the community, it's shocking," he said. "But you know times do change, nothing stays the same." Hannigan said people don't have the same amount of time to devote to religious life as they used to. "It doesn't mean they're not religious, but you're confined to what you can do." Sister Paula Randow, principal of St. Jude School in Blackwood, knows a little bit about change. The diocese announced in November that her school would be combined with one at St. Agnes, also in Blackwood, to form a regional school at St. Jude. On Thursday, the diocese said St. Jude's worship site will move to St. Agnes. "Change is always hard," she said. "Even when it's good change." For some, the planned school consolidations are the handwriting on the wall. In Cherry Hill, Wendy DiGerolamo was visiting Queen of Heaven Church and the adjacent school Thursday to show off her new dog to a teacher. She couldn't say she was surprised. Just last year, the Camden Diocese announced that the parish school would merge into the school at St. Peter Celestine, also in Cherry Hill. Now, the Queen of Heaven Parish is merging with St. Peter Celestine. "I'm very saddened by it. My kids were baptized here and I had hoped they would be married here," said DiGerolamo. "It's a real family atmosphere." Some, like Susan Ott, had more complicated feelings. Ott doesn't belong to Transfiguration Church in Collingswood anymore. Nor does she regularly attend Mass at St. Vincent Pallotti in Haddon Township. But both churches hold a special place in her heart. Transfiguration was where she and her husband were married. And St. Vincent Pallotti is where many friends got married and where other family and friends had their funerals. To know that two special places in her personal history will no longer be Catholic worship sites tempered her joy at hearing her current parish, St. Stephen's in Pennsauken, will remain open. "I feel bad for a lot of the senior citizens who might have a hard time making the transition to another church," Ott said. The fast-growing and diverse Catholic population in Camden city might also have a hard time adjusting to a restructuring of their community. Although Holy Name in North Camden will no longer be a worship site, church officials will continue to offer services in its predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. "All of these ministries across the street will continue as they are," Father William Kelley said of several church-affiliated nonprofit groups that operate from nearby rowhomes. "Even though the parish will no longer be a worship site, our school will not be affected by this," the Jesuit priest added. The K-8 school has about 140 students. Kelley noted his parishioners in the future are to worship at the downtown Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and at a secondary site, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Fatima in South Camden. "It's very sad that the church that they identify with is not going to be there for them, but they've been bending over backwards at the cathedral to make us feel welcome," he observed. For those who can't make it to the cathedral every Sunday, like the elderly and those without transportation, Kelley said he hopes to provide a shuttle service. At St. John's Parish in Collingswood, 9-year-old Robert Engelke was happy his church is to stay open. He and his mother, Meg, will be seeing new faces at Sunday Mass once a merger occurs. "They'll get to learn about what our church is like," said Robert, a third-grader at St. John Regional Catholic School. "But it's sad because they're going to lose their church." His mother looked at the merger as a potential positive. "When you have more people coming together and bringing all their talents together," she said, "it could make a better community." Reach Matt Katz at (856) 486-2456 or mkatz@courierpostonline.com
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