Church and School Cuts Anger Catholics in Philadelphia
By Erik Eckholm
PHILADELPHIA — "It's been a rough week" is how the Rev. Charles Zlock, pastor of the St. Mary of the Assumption Parish, started his 10 a.m. homily on Sunday. It seemed like an obvious reference to the searing trial that ended Friday with the conviction of a senior Philadelphia archdiocese official, Msgr. William J. Lynn, on a charge of endangering children by placing a known pedophile in an unwary parish. But the 120 worshipers attending St. Mary's on Sunday, though upset by the case, were mostly heartsick for a different reason: After final services next Sunday, this handsome church in northwest Philadelphia, a center of life for nearby residents since 1849, is scheduled to close. For the unsettled Roman Catholics in this 1.5 million-member archdiocese, the closing is one more blow in sweeping and bitterly contested cutbacks. Across the city, thousands are already incensed because church leaders have closed 27 cherished schools. Even as it struggles with the revelations of sexual abuse and the failure of top officials to act, the Philadelphia Archdiocese, long considered an eminent stronghold of Catholic power and tradition, is being battered from several sides. Faced with an unheard-of $17 million deficit this year — worsened by millions of dollars in legal fees — Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who arrived in September, announced last week that he was closing the youth office, shutting down the nationally known monthly newspaper and laying off 45 archdiocese employees. He has put the archbishop's 13,000-square-foot mansion up for sale. It was the threat of school closings, not the evidence that church officials failed to protect children, that brought hundreds of livid parents into the streets this year. "We've been through a really hard 18 months," said Matthew Gambino, referring to the seemingly abrupt convergence of woes since Monsignor Lynn's indictment in February 2011. Mr. Gambino was the editor of the venerable archdiocese newspaper, The Catholic Standard and Times, until it was closed last week; now he edits an official Web site. Philadelphia's elaborate network of parishes and parochial schools was developed more than a century ago, after the settlement of European ethnic groups that have long since dispersed. For too long, officials here avoided making unpopular decisions, said Rocco Palmo, an expert on the Catholic Church and writer of the blog Whispers in the Loggia. Parishioners were never told that the church was sinking in the red, Mr. Palmo added, and this year's announced cuts, which will be far from the last, took many by surprise. "Chaput has taken on the toughest job any bishop in the United States has faced in at least 50 years," said Mr. Palmo, who has been appointed by the archbishop to an advisory council, praising him for changing the culture of what had been an insular and often imperious clergy. The sprawling archdiocese covers Philadelphia and four nearby counties. Some suburban churches, like St. Joseph's, in Downingtown, are thriving: with a membership of 15,000, it is one of the largest parishes in the archdiocese. But the child abuse scandal continues to resonate, it was clear during multiple Sunday services at St. Joseph's, where Monsignor Lynn, after he had retired from a senior job supervising priests, served as pastor from 2004 until his indictment in 2011. Some worshipers and priests said they thought Monsignor Lynn had been a scapegoat for the wider failings of the church hierarchy. "They had to blame somebody," said Betty Celii, 72, a parishioner at St. Joseph's for about 50 years. "I'm sure there's more work to do." Bishop John J. McIntyre, an aide to the archbishop, made a special visit to St. Joseph's and repeated the church's apologies to victims of sexual abuse. In a sermon that drew applause, the acting pastor of St. Joseph's, Msgr. Joseph McLoone, said, "We want to rid the church of this profound stain, this powerful evil." While the archdiocese says it has strengthened measures to detect and punish abusers, the misdeeds of the past will continue to be in the news. This fall, another priest and a former Catholic schoolteacher are to be tried on charges of child sexual abuse. Eighteen priests who were suspended last year because of accusations of abuse remain in limbo as the church investigates. But cutting parishes and schools may be the most divisive issue in the coming years. At St. Mary of the Assumption, in the Manayunk neighborhood of northwest Philadelphia, parishioners are appealing to the Vatican to overrule the archbishop. Anne Andersen, 49, who lives nearby, has been a member all her life and attended the parish school, which was shut down a number of years ago. "Our hearts are here," she said of the parish, and she hopes the appeal will succeed, noting that several families with young children were present, hints of a possible demographic renewal. Joe Hadfield, 70, and his wife, Carol, were married in St. Mary's 50 years ago next Saturday. "It was family," Mr. Hadfield said of their years in the parish, recalling great Fourth of July picnics. Knowing that the church would be shut down, the Hadfields had driven in from their home in the suburbs to hear services there one last time, they said. They heard Father Zlock say Mass at St. Mary's at 10 a.m., after conducting 8 a.m. services at another church; because of the priest shortage, he has presided over two smaller parishes, both of them now closing. Father Zlock said he was exhausted after being "screamed at" over the last year and a half by parishioners who were worried about their children and the loss of churches and schools. The Philadelphia officials and priests, he said, had become "arrogant and complacent" over the years, contributing to the crises today. But like many others, he praised Archbishop Chaput for tackling unpopular issues head-on. "Chaput has put a steamroller in place and said we're going to fix this thing," he said. "Two years from now we're going to be a smaller, leaner church," Father Zlock said. "But the people who will be here will be spiritually vibrant and engaged." Archbishop Chaput declined to be interviewed, but in a speech last week he called for a zealous new missionary movement in Philadelphia. He lamented that only 18 percent of registered Catholics here attended Mass weekly, compared with 40 percent in Denver. Mr. Gambino, the archdiocese news editor, also said he was optimistic about the future. "A lot of times in life you have to hit rock bottom before you can pull yourself up again," he said. "I think people are ready to move forward."
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