We've Got Company in Disapproving of Demolition!

New York Magazine places the proposed demolition of Our Lady of Vilnius in the "Highbrow/Despicable" quadrant of their Approval Matrix for Week of January 2, 2012!

A Positive Mention of Our Lady of Vilnius in "Catholic New York"

I was pleasantly surprised to see a tribute to Our Lady of Vilnius among Catholic New York's "Letters to the Editor". The letter, titled "Study Site", was written by Marymount Manhattan professor, Mary Brown. Ms. Brown included Our Lady of Vilnius in a walking tour of Catholic Greenwich Village for her students. Salient quote:

"Even if the Lithuanian community no longer worships there, I’m glad Our Lady of Vilnius stayed for so long. In its last years, it has helped class after class learn more about the role of the Church in the City of New York."

Thank you, Mary, for caring and for making sure that Our Lady of Vilnius will live in the memories of your students."

Church and Real Estate: Another hierarchical church meets community resistance

Another hierarchical church meets resistance over the proposed sale of a property. Anne Barnard's piece in yesterdays NY Times, Mormon Church's Plan for Land Upsets Harlem, describes how the Mormon church's central authority in Salt Lake City decided to sell a Harlem property to a residential developer, rejecting alternate proposals from a local nonprofit and from a group of congregants. The lot with a small building on it was the first home of the Harlem congregation, which now worships in a newly constructed church nearby.

Salient quote:
"Adjoining the garden are two properties owned by Ms. Tew’s organization, the Rev. Linnette C. Williamson Memorial Park Association, the trust that sought to buy the church land at a discount. One, a grassy lawn, is used as a play space by local day care centers; the other is a community garden.

Paul Coppa, a lawyer for the trust, said that church officials in Utah had no interest in his proposal and that while he believed he could have made a deal with the local congregation, he was told they had “no say.”"

Archbishop Dolan to become Cardinal Dolan on February 18th!

Will Cardinal Dolan surpass Cardinal Egan as Our Lady of Vilnius's best publicist?

We hope he does it by cancelling demolition and restoring our community of faith.

Speculation that Pope Benedict would appoint new Cardinals appeared in yesterday's press and at today's noon Angelus in Rome (6:00 AM our time) the Pope announced the appointment of 22 new Cardinals, Archbishop Timothy Dolan among them. Since no one does it better than Rocco Palmo at Whispers in the Loggia, visit this blog for coverage.

• Biglietto, 2012 - list of new Cardinals
• "Pope Benedict Is Putting the Red Hat On the Empire State Building": Now A Cardinal... But Forever Tim - Archbishop Dolan's statement in response to the appointment.

Church and State (of siege): Another publication heard from

Sarah Posner at Religion Dispatches has picked up on the combative "war on religion/first amendment" rhetoric. Read her essay, "In 2012 Bishops Join Fight to Repackage Discrimination as ‘Religious Freedom’"

I could have innocently picked up on an article from a notoriously anti-Catholic source. Please let me know.

Church and State (of siege)

As Advent dawned in the Archdiocese of New York I heard about a war from 4 different Catholic pulpits. A war is being waged on religion by the secular society. While it was not uttered, the take home message seemed to be "we better fight back," if only by wearing buttons that say "It's alright to wish me Merry Christmas."

Today's NY Times article by Laurie Goodstein, Bishops Say Rules on Gay Parents Limit Freedom of Religion may be viewed as another salvo. The article describes how Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, closed diocesan adoptive services rather than comply with a legal mandate to place children in the homes of gay couples, as these Catholic agencies received state funds. Presenting the Church's position, the article quotes Anthony R. Picarello Jr., general counsel and associate general secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, as saying “It’s true that the church doesn’t have a First Amendment right to have a government contract,” he said, “but it does have a First Amendment right not to be excluded from a contract based on its religious beliefs.” The opposing view argues that "no group has a constitutional right to a government contract, especially if it refuses to provide required services." In the course of relating this ideological standoff, Ms. Goodstein observes, "The idea that religious Americans are the victims of government-backed persecution is now a frequent theme not just for Catholic bishops, but also for Republican presidential candidates and conservative evangelicals." Shortly after hearing about the war on religion from 4 pulpits, I heard it on a Sunday morning news show from Newt Gingrich. Worst of all, we heard it from Cardinal Egan's attorney and Fox News consultant Peter Johnson, Jr.

After the New York State Court of Appeals ruled against Our Lady of Vilnius, Mr. Johnson presented the ruling as an affirmation of religious freedom and an able defense of the Constitution.

The parishioners of Our Lady of Vilnius are not enemies of either religious freedom or the Constitution. They are Roman Catholics that believe that the Church would serve itself better by opening its doors instead of circling the wagons.

St. Stanislaus Kostka Community mourns the loss of Weronika Radoman

Weronika (Vera) Radoman would have been equally at home in both St. Stanislaus Kostka and Our Lady of Vilnius. In fact, she was very much at home wherever you would meet her.

Though she was a member of the St. Stanislaus Kostka Holy Rosary Society, I met her in tai chi class before I ever found St. Stanislaus. Despite a bum knee, she gamely tried the form while subverting the imposed tranquility of the class with her high spirits. After 2 semesters she moved on to learn Spanish, an interest that did not make demands on her bad knee.

At St. Stanislaus Kostka she was noted for her generosity and warmth. She was a generous contributor to our Rosary Society and did not refuse to feed the woodland creatures that occasionally wandered into her kitchen to feed next to the cat. She fed us, too. Her kielbasi and sauerkraut were a popular mainstay of our Holiday Fair and Spring Thing lunches.

According to her funeral home obit, she was born in Poland on February 10, 1923. She loved hearing the Polish hymns sung at St. Stanislaus and would weep and later thank the choir whenever we sang "Pod Twa Obrone". When we said the rosary together she was right with us, in synch but not unison, praying in Polish.

Like many of the people I've met at these parishes, there was very much more to Vera than met the eye. When talking about movies she could offer insights to rival those of professional critics. It was a privilege to gradually get to know her over the years.

Without parishes like Our Lady of Vilnius and St. Stanislaus Kostka people like Vera and Jurgis Aleliunas would have been friendly faces seen at one of several Masses. These parishes allowed us to know them and love them. It allowed them to inspire and encourage us by merely being themselves.

CLICK HERE to view funeral arrangements.