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.