Last year yet another parish celebrated its last mass: Mary Help of Christians. 1) Now this was a small, originally Italian ethnic parish erected in 1908. It was in the care of the Salesians. The present church was built in 1918. The architect, Nicholas Serracino, was a prolific builder of churches in a baroque, beaux-arts idiom around 1910 – 20. His grand masterpiece is St Jean’s; his other commissions were for parishes with significantly less money. Since the 1930’s much of his work has disappeared (e.g., St. Clare’s (demolished in 1930’s); Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (demolished 2007)). At Mary Help of Christians he created a miniature version of a grand baroque façade – staying within the constraints of the obviously extremely limited resources of this parish.
The parish may have been modest. Yet around its church arose an entire complex of buildings, most notably an impressive school. As time went on, this Italian parish became almost entirely Hispanic. The church and rectory grew noticeably dilapidated. The Council definitely left its mark on the interior. Yet the parish and school of Mary Help of Christians – as the parish dedication suggests – remained a beacon of hope in a very tough times of a forgotten neighborhood.
The rectory.
In 2007 the Archdiocese determined to close the parish. More clearly than elsewhere, a leading motive of all this “making all things new” activity has been spotlighted here: the large and valuable parish grounds have been sold to a developer for $41 million. A petition to demolish the church and the other strucures has been filed. 2) Luxury condominium units are to be erected on this site. So here the Archdiocese “cashes in” on the “widow’s mite” of past generations that financed the building of these churches of the poor. Other relics of New York’s Catholic identity and history are also on the block: Our Lady of Vilna (for $13 million – it was a flourishing parish as late as the 1980’s); St Vincent de Paul (a 140 year old building). 3) The air rights to St Patrick’s Cathedral are also up for grabs. 4) Yet all this deal-doing only serves to defer for a little while longer the day of reckoning for the Archdiocese.
The schoolyard – this is all valuable stuff nowadays.
Just as at St. Thomas, Our Lady of Vilna, St. Ann’s, St Vincent de Paul and St Brigid a devoted group of parishioners is making a last stand for their parish. They assert the rights of past generations buried in an ancient cemetery at this site. 5) Will they succeed in blocking these Archdiocesan deals? It is not promising – but yet in one of the above cases the parishioners succeeded in fending off the destruction of their parish (admittedly at the cost of shutting down another)! 6)
1) http://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/slideshow-last-mass-at-mary-help-of-christians-church/ (a beautiful slideshow showing the last mass at this church – and also revealing the interior)
2) http://evgrieve.com/2013/04/permits-filed-to-demolish-mary-help-of.html
3) http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/ny_losing_all_its_old_churches_1PLSdD92TpfrkUYfbDVLqK
4) http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/archdiocese-new-york-sell-lucrative-air-rights-properties-including-st-patrick-cathedral-article-1.1159272
5) http://gvshp.org/blog/2013/05/23/more-evidence-of-historic-cemetery-under-endangered-church/
6) This site summarizes developments regarding Mary Help of Christians: http://ny.curbed.com/tags/mary-help-of-christians
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