Saturday, March 16, 2024

RIP Harry Kresky, Defender of Parishes


Harry Kresky, the attorney who crafted the argument that saved St. Brigid's church in Manhattan from further whacks from the wrecking ball, has passed away.  The Save Our Lady of Vilnius Committee was impressed with the elegance and effectiveness of his creation and hired him to help save the church and parish.  I thought about him (coincidentally?) on the date of his death as I was cleaning up my act and my apartment and came upon the stack of legal papers.

I am still haunted by the mysteries of the closure of the parish and the ensuing case, which stayed alive from 2007 to 2011 until it was lost at the highest court in NY state.   Kudos to Harry for getting us there against Roger Ailes' personal attorney and Fox and Friends personality, Peter Johnson, Jr.

For the past year I had toyed with the idea of calling Mr. Kresky and hiring him to at least educate us re Neutral Principles and go on to explain how both he and Mr. Johnson invoked them, but Mr. Johnson won.  When I floated this idea to my friend Elaine, who had co-chaired the Committee, she cautioned "if he's still alive."  Sadly for us and many others, we Googled him and found his very recent obituary.

My significant other of 27 years, John, passed away on January 9th of this year, so my heart goes out to Harry's loved ones.  As usual, the obituary revealed things about the deceased that I did not know during the period of our acquaintance.  The simplicity and elegance of his argument should have suggested to me that he was a poet, but it didn't.  I am now going to read his poems.
The entire obituary is available here: https://www.gariepyfuneralhomes.com/obituary/Harry-Kresky

Friday, December 24, 2021

The Analects of Joseph Zwilling: On Patrimony

"In addition to storing sacred items like altars and incense censers, which according to canon law are permitted to be only in places of worship, the warehouse is a repository of secular artifacts like stained-glass windows. 

Such objects “could still have other value, such as artistic or historical,” or simply monetary, said Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese. These artifacts “help tell the story of the history of a church that is important to people who, back when the church was being built, contributed either monetarily or through their labor,” he said. “So we wanted to honor that contribution.”


Commentary:  Nothing honors the contribution of spiritual ancestors who contributed to a parish monetarily or through labor like locking the church and engaging appraisers to evaluate and remove treasured contents from their historical and cultural context.



Image

Fourteen Years After the 'Realignment,' the NY Times Visits the New Home of our Patrimony


These Churches Have Been Closed, but Their Artifacts Live On

On Christmas Eve the New York Times has gifted us with a breezy and informative article about the fate of the patrimony belonging to the numerous closed parishes of the Archdiocese of New York.   When these objects were in their churches, they were invested with recognition, memories and loving care by parishioners.  Now they are displayed cheek by jowl in an impersonal commercial setting.  They seem forlorn, like patients waiting alone in examining rooms, naked under their hospital gowns.

Thursday, December 23, 2021

The Analects of Joseph Zwilling: On Public Health

 From Deseret.Com:  The unique pain of a COVID-19 surge at Christmas

"A spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York told The New York Times that the safety measures already in place for in-person worship, including a mask requirement, will reduce infection risk.

These measures have been working and effective,” said the spokesman, Joseph Zwilling. “There are no additional measures being put in place at this time.”"

It is true that the measures in place will reduce risk.  But will it reduce risk enough in light of Omicron to justify Cardinal Dolan's assurances of safety?

I don't know how Joseph Zwilling can say the the measures are effective.  I would like to see the data. I had no idea that the Archdiocese of New York had a Department of Health that tracked cases and exposures associated with St. Patrick's Cathedral and individual parish churches in the archdiocese.  

 

Christmas 2021: Are Christmas Masses at St. Patrick's Cathedral Really Safe?

‘Full Speed Ahead… We’re Safe, We’re Secure, We’re Taking All The Precautions’ - Cardinal Dolan

I have not yet heard a public health expert characterize any setting as safe at any time during the pandemic.  Safety is always couched in relative terms:  progressive layers of precaution add up to increased, but never absolute safety.  Risk is reduced, but never eliminated.  Some people, by reason of age or other health attributes, are at higher risk than others at the same level of precaution.  This is why I question the safety of attending these Masses:

  • Omicron is the dominant variant and it is many times more contagious than previous variants.
  • Cases in NY state and NYC are extremely high.
  • Vaccination is not being checked.  This aspect of prevention is left to the honor system.
  • The unvaccinated are on the honor system to sit in a socially distanced section.  I doubt that all will comply.  Even if they do, they are exhaling into a common sanctuary.
  • Masking is required, but will compliance be encouraged or enforced beyond providing masks at the door?  I watched a livestream Mass in our archdiocese on Sunday when the NYS mandate was in place.  Two blatantly unmasked in the front row and numerous people with nose out or mask under the chin.
  • Even among the mask compliant, not all masks are equal in containing exhaled droplets.  There are issues of fit, design and materials.  If you are sitting next to a person wearing a bandana, a buff or a cloth mask alone, you are at greater risk than if you are next to someone who is double masked or wearing one of the approved N95's or equivalent.
  • The Mass will be long and there will be congregational singing, factors that generally increase the likelihood of infection.
  • Even though Communion will be distributed in the hand, every recipient will be lowering the mask and putting their hand near their mouth to receive.  As the cathedral has a large capacity, this creates a lot of drops in the bucket.
Cardinal Dolan is certainly a personable and affable shepherd, but I think in this instance he could have done much better to protect his flock from Covid.


Friday, November 05, 2021

Our Lady of Vilnius Organ Bench Makes Cameo Appearance

 The organ bench from Our Lady of Vilnius ended up in Old St. Patrick's Cathedral as part of the patrimony diaspora.  The bench makes a brief appearance in Martin Scorsese's documentary "The Oratorio" airing tonight on PBS.  The documentary weaves Scorsese's memories of the Basilica with the story of an oratorio performed there in 1826.  In 2018 this oratorio was re-created and performed in a benefit concert for the restoration of the organ.

The Oratorio

Here's Jared Lamenza playing at Old St. Pat's.  The bench, like Our Lady of Vilnius, is barely visible but totally essential.



Friday, October 22, 2021

Bishop Dennis Sullivan's Reminiscences Relevant to OLV


Bishop recounts structural, spiritual work at Saint Teresa’s

Ten years have passed since Our Lady of Vilnius lost their legal case against the Archdiocese of New York, but the church, the parish and the parishioners live in my heart and imagination.  There are still many mysteries associated with the parish and the circumstances of its extinction that perplex me and which I would like to see solved.

This article in the Catholic Star Herald is the sixth in a series of Bishop Dennis Sullivan's retrospective on his 50 years in the priesthood.  

A Tale of Two Roofs

In this installment he looks back on the 1995 collapse of the roof of St. Teresa's on Henry Street.   This church was the first home of Our Lady of Vilnius Parish before the church at 570 Broome Street was built.   Bishop Sullivan recounts the factors considered in rebuilding St. Teresa's and the painstaking effort to restore it.

Salient quotes, er, clues:

"A series of meetings with archdiocesan officials took place to determine the future of the old church building.  It was decided that money would be loaned to the parish (how much and from whom?) to clear out the plaster and to fortify the ceiling in the lower church."

"The archdiocese began to study the need for 21 parishes on the east side of Manhattan below 14th Street. Most of those parishes had their roots in the different Catholic ethnic groups that immigrated to New York City in the 19th century. Each parish formed a committee to evaluate the need for the parish. Lots of emotion accompanied those discussions. Within blocks of Saint Teresa’s were four other parishes, and we had a church building with issues."

"After a few years of discussions and evaluations, the decision was reached that the parish was to remain and that the church building had to be restored for use. The monies to do this would come from the sale of valuable properties the parish owned. " (What properties and for how much?)

"Cardinal O’Connor permitted me to sell the property, which was contrary to archdiocesan policy. (A policy or a custom? If a policy, would love to read it) All of a sudden, we had money!"

"The necessary parish studies of the Lower East Side that the archdiocese had undertaken also required lots of attention. No one wants to see their parish church eliminated. I learned so much about the love of people for their parish, but also, I learned about the needs of the archdiocese." (Bishop Sullivan held meetings with all of the parishes identified for possible closure under Cardinal Egan's "Realignment.  He never met with a delegation from Our Lady of Vilnius because it was not included in the realignment.  It was summarily closed.)

In the early 2000's the roof of Our Lady of Vilnius was deemed unsafe and a scaffold was placed in the center of the sanctuary so that the roof could be monitored.  There was a concern that a heavy snowfall could cause the roof to collapse.  A heater was installed to melt snow and ice that might burden the flat roof.  Mass was moved to the basement.  Weddings and baptisms took place at other churches for reasons of aesthetics.  Funerals could not be held in the basement because it was impossible to carry a casket down the narrow staircase.

Communications from the parish trustees inquiring about the roof and its repair were stonewalled.  Insurance monies were never released and a generous offer by a parishioner to contribute significantly to the repair was not considered.

The condition of the roof was one of the reasons for closure cited by the Archdiocese, as was the paucity of weddings, baptisms and funerals resulting from the closed sanctuary.

After the church was closed and slated for demolition the roof heater was disconnected.  Despite record snowfalls the roof remained intact until it was demolished.


RIP Donald Tangredi (1943-2021)

 

These are my cousins, Richard and Donald Tangredi.  Richard is the big one dressed as a cowboy and Donald, his little brother, is looking up at him.  They are standing in front of the garage behind the house where I grew up.  

Their mother, Rosie, was my father's sister who died giving birth to Donald.  I never had the privilege of meeting her.  Family lore describes her as smart, playing the violin, being a great baker and ready with a fast comeback.  I have no pictures, but people tell me that she resembled my cousin, Marilyn, and Donald's daughter Sarah.

I never had much contact with Donald, especially later in his life.  He was always pleasant, but there was an ill concealed urge to squirm away.

He was a part of my family, my half-Lithuanian heritage, and I am sad that he is no longer with me on this earth.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Happy St. Joseph day, all you Joes


The only guy in the picture is my father, Joe.  He was known as Joe Nak, Joe Nakki and, by some Italians who didn't know he was Lithuanian, Joe Nacchi. 

He was a wonderful man, husband and father.

No sfingi and zeppoli this year, but we hope and pray for better days ahead.

Sunday, February 02, 2020

Experts Find Galapagos Tortoises Related to OLV Patron Tortoise, Lonesome George

Because he, too, was in danger of extinction, I declared Lonesome George, aka Jorge El Solitario,  the Patron Tortoise of Our Lady of Vilnius NYC.  A news items now describes how hybrid tortoises bearing some of his species' genes have been found: Galápagos experts find a tortoise related to Lonesome George.  Glad his genes live on, but no one can replace my lost love.

My favorite Lonesome George tribute: