“Making all Things New” Marches On

The severe altar of St. Thomas More: a legacy of the Liturgical Movement and Cardinal Spellman.

As we had told you, the grand Archdiocesan announcement of November 2 was only the beginning of the “Making all Things New” saga. The New York Times now makes us aware of a second wave of proposed mergers and closings. The Archdiocese had stated in the first announcement that “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 fact, there are more than 30 in the new wave – 11 of them involving not just merger but effectively the permanent closing of a parish.

The pre-civil war church of St. Joseph “of the Holy Family” – scheduled to be merged.

According to the New York Times: “The earlier round of mergers and closings followed more than a year of discussions between parishes and an advisory panel, which was charged with presenting recommendations about parish consolidations to Cardinal Dolan. In the new cases, however, the proposals came directly from Cardinal Dolan and other senior archdiocesan officials, who felt the advisory group had not gone far enough in recommending changes, said Joseph Zwilling, the archdiocese’s spokesman.” In other words, after conducting the much ballyhooed allegedly “participative” process of “Making all Things New” as established by its consultants, the Archdiocese itself immediately overruled its recommendations (which it had already published). It is eloquent testimony of the true nature of “Making all Things New.” What advantage the Archdiocese sees in this “death by a thousand cuts” approach is a mystery to me.

Clearly, going forward no parish can feel entirely secure, regardless of its “vibrancy” or any prior assurances it may have received. Of the proposed permanent closures in Manhattan, the region with which I am familiar, that of St Thomas More has already attracted wide notice. Equally astonishing – even though it is supposed to be only a merger – is the combination of St. Catherine of Siena with St. Vincent Ferrer. For both St.Thomas More and St. Catherine of Siena would seem to be flourishing parishes. The closing of St. John the Martyr parish, however, had been widely expected but for some reason had not been included in the first “tranche” of closings. St. Gregory the Great – the parish without a church – also might seem to be “low-hanging fruit” to the Archdiocese – although its parochial school will continue?

St. John the Martyr.

Window in the church of St. Gregory the Great.

Some of these mergers would endanger some of the city’s most beautiful churches: St. Catherine of Siena and St. John Nepomucene (even though both are supposed to stay open).

St. John Nepomucene

St. Catherine of Siena