Today's New York Times lets us know that 32 parochial schools in the Archdiocese of New York will close. The article, "32 New York Catholic Schools to Close" by Paul Vitello, reports that Church officials characterize this as the largest school system reorganization in its history.
CLICK HERE to view Archdiocese of New York press release including list of schools under consideration for closure.
Without their schools, will the pathway to excellence be paved with suppressed parishes?
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Yesterday's Daily News (November 10, 2010) featured an article by staff writers Kevin Burke and Bill Hutchinson titled "31 Catholic schools get word they face the ax." (Yes 31, and they face the ax, not the scythe.) According to the article, these schools receive "more than $12 million a year in subsidies."
The superintendent of archdiocesan schools, Timothy McNiff, said that the archdiocese needed to allocate resources to "support schools that can sustain themselves over time" but that "it will ultimately be the pastor's decision whether or not it will remain open or closed without the subsidy."
It seems that the rules for closing parish churches are completely different. Think back to February 27, 2007 when archdiocesan spokesman Joseph Zwilling issued this statement:
"The parish of Our Lady of Vilnius was closed today. Father Eugene Sawicki, Administrator of the parish was informed at a meeting that the closure is effective immediately."
Yes, we all remember how immediate that was! - it was essentially simultaneous! - the locks on the church were being changed even as Father Sawicki was meeting with Cardinal Egan. Our church was not dependent upon subsidies and was essentially self-supporting. The insurance payments that should have covered the repairs of the damaged ceiling had been made - yet the church was padlocked, suppressed and plundered.
When St. Matthew's School closed in Hastings-on-Hudson, it was a great loss for St. Stanislaus Kostka. We lost our young altar servers and choir members and when they transferred to Christ the King school in Yonkers, their parents followed them to that parish. I think that there will be a toll in attendance for parishes and more future statistics to quote in support of their closure. The archdiocese presents the situation as stemming the tide of subsidies hemorrhaging from their coffers. It seems that in their public pronouncements something is always "mentally reserved." I am sure that part of their analysis includes anticipated revenues from the vacated real estate.
I hope that the kids from St. Matthew's schools have all graduated. If not they may be on the road again, as Christ the King is on the hit list.
Just to respond to something Ellen Halloran stated: My daughter's school is closing at the end of the year. When the pastor stated that he intended to keep the school running without the archiocese's support he was told that he could not do so. He was told it conflicted with their Pathways to Excellence. I will likely leave my parish over this and will have to do quite a bit of soul searching not to leave the Catholic Church...this is the last straw for me!!
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