“Making all Things New”: the Beginning of the End

So we have finally heard  the Archdiocese’s announcement of church closings and consolidations – the culmination of Cardinal Dolan’s “Making all Things New.” At the end that program, like its predecessor, only comes down to a list of parishes closing or merging – tragedies and losses small and great. Traditionalists will breathe a sigh of relief – Holy Innocents (like St. Agnes and Our Lady of Mount Carmel) is not scheduled to close. We are informed that after the announcement there at mass yesterday: “people were very happy – some clapped, cried, and shouted with joy.” In general, the impact on Manhattan was less severe than that earlier (semi-official) estimates and “targets” had indicated – by my count, 9 parishes will be closed and 6 others merged (but the celebration of masses and sacraments will continue). A couple of the mergers are merely declarative of the existing situation. Moreover, in addition to Holy Innocents, several other widely discussed candidates for closure have nevertheless emerged unscathed.

Despite this good news, If I were one of the survivors I would restrain my rejoicing. For this announcement is not by any means the end of the story. In “Making all things New,” just as in its 2007 predecessor, parishes have been or will be merged or closed entirely outside any announced official list. The Archdiocese expressly reserves this possibility:

“There are a small number of new proposals for parish mergers that have arisen as a result of the cardinal’s own reflection on those proposals presented to him, as well as from his discussions with key advisors. In keeping with the spirit of the Making All Things New process, Cardinal Dolan has asked that these new proposals be shared with the appropriate clusters and the archdiocesan advisory group so as to solicit their input. These will eventually also be reviewed by the priest council of the archdiocese before a final decision is reached. It is hoped that these new proposals will be acted upon soon so that final decisions are reached over the next several months.”

So, for example, regarding one parish initially recommended for closure, there will be ongoing consideration of:

“A potential move of Saint Michael’s Parish in Manhattan to accommodate the pastoral needs of those who will move to the new Hudson Yards development.”

(Above and below) St. Elisabeth of Hungary

(above) St. Elisabeth of Hungary

(Above and below) Our Lady of Peace.

Yes, the catalogue of churches scheduled for closure – or “termination of the celebration of masses and sacrament on a regular basis” is a tragic tale. Among the victims is the lovely church of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, which anchors a quiet streetscape on East 83rd Street – first Slovak, then “mainstream” Archdiocesan and in recent decades also the home of the Archdiocesan deaf ministry. There is the equally charming Our Lady of Peace on East 62nd Street – its parishioners are invited to transfer to the extraordinary ugly modern “church” of St. John the Evangelist. The parishioners of the Hungarian church of St. Stephen of Hungary, who just in the last few years had made heroic (and apparently successful) efforts to preserve their parochial school from closure, now will find themselves deprived of their parish as well.

(Above) St. James (with its street named after the parish!)

(Above) St. Joseph; (below) the ceiling of St. James.

Some losses have greater cultural, historical and artistic significance. St. James, a neoclassical temple of the 1830’s and the boyhood parish of Gov. Al Smith, will apparently close along with its current “parent”, St. Joseph’s. St. Stephen’s – next to St Patrick’s cathedral, the grandest and best-preserved high Victorian Catholic church interior in New York, will also shut its doors. The product of the combined efforts of Renwick, Brumidi and the German stained glass studios of the last years of the 19th century, the landmarked St Stephen’s was led by a series of legendary pastors prior to 1918. I would anticipate that the disposition of these two churches will attract the interest of the broader New York community. Such well-preserved interiors would of course also offer an ideal New York home to several growing Traditional – or at least “conservative” – orders. It is a solution that, although implemented in Chicago for decades now (e.g., St. John Cantius), has been expressly rejected, I understand, by the New York Archdiocese on at least one previous occasion.

(Above and below) St. Stephen’s.

(Above) At. Stephen’s

What will be the end result of all this? The New York Times has nicely summarized the factors behind “Making all things New”:

“The number of priests has fallen each year, as retirements outpace ordinations. And attendance has been declining; as of 2013, only about 12 percent of the New York archdiocese’s 2.8 million Catholics regularly attended Sunday Mass, according to the archdiocese.”

No downsizing or organizational changes can address these underlying issues. They are of the spiritual, not the material order. So I would expect that within a few years we and the Archdiocese will be confronting yet another “reconfiguration” plan.