Revisiting two churches closed by the Archdiocese….

Where the church, school and other buildings of Mary Help of Christians stood on East 12th and 11th streets until 2013  we now find, ready for occupancy, luxury condominiums and storefronts.

The large (for the East Village) complex fronts on three streets (including Avenue A).

These dwellings permit the well-to-do to enjoy luxurious amenities while savoring the East Village lifestyle (purveyors of latex garments, aromatic oils etc).

For our 2013 report on the former church see HERE and subsequent articles.

Further east, at 740 East 13th street, the closed but intact church of St. Emeric still stands amid its ghastly surroundings of a power plant and housing complexes.

The school – is it still being used by the parish of St. Brigid – into which St Emeric parish was merged? In any case, there are recent posters in the windows…

HERE is a 2013 report on St. Brigid and St. Emeric.(We hope to able able to report soon on more recent developments at St Brigid.)

It’s a sad undertaking: a visit to the former church of St Vincent de Paul on a cold and rainy day in February. The neoclassical facade of the 1930’s stands forlorn on West 23rd street surrounded by nondescript chain stores and, more often than not since a blast rocked the surroundings two years ago, by empty storefronts. Statues, windows and welcome boards have been stripped away; a bum pulls down his trousers on the steps. It’s a sad end for a parish that, as the French national church of New York, once enjoyed a certain degree of celebrity in the city – even if located in a neighborhood that, until the last few decades, was out of the way and mildly disreputable as well.

(Above and below)The neoclassical facade of 1939 is much more recent than the rest of the church.

By 2016 all appeals against its closure and sale had been rejected by the Vatican.  In that year too an explosion knocked out the facade windows of the closed church. And finally, also in 2016, the property was sold to a “hotelier”;  in 2017 a new owner took over.  But as of today the church still stands – eloquent testimony to the post-Vatican II progress of Catholicism in this city.

(Above) Boards, like a strange dead eye, where the rose-shaped window looked out on the street.

For a description of the church before its closing see HERE.

St. Michael at St. Joseph’s Chapel.

It was reported last month that the chapel of St. Joseph in Battery Park City (also, the Archdiocesan 9/11 memorial) finally will be closed as of January 2018. This is a consequence of a massive rent hike (the space occupied by the chapel is leased). The art therein will be removed to St. Peter’s (where the “shrine” will be “rededicated” before September 11, 2018).

The “pastoral letter” by the pastor of St. Peter’s church officially informing parishioners of the closure is given HERE. Predictably, the reasons for shutting the 9/11 memorial are not given, except indirectly, nor is any regret expressed. Rather, parishioners are summoned to “move forward” to a “new chapter.”

Thus ends a Catholic presence in that corner of New York dating back to 1890. And thus ends the “Catholic Memorial at Ground Zero” established by Cardinal Egan at a cost of $1.7 million as recently as 2005. As we have noticed in relation to other churches, the existence of a “shrine” plays no role whatsoever in the Archdiocesan determinations as to which churches shall survive and which shall close.  It’s a bit schizophrenic: the creation of a “shrine” at great cost (relative to the size of the chapel) would seem to indicate some kind of Archdiocesan-wide interest and commitment.  Yet the continued existence of St. Joseph’s has been decided exclusively on the basis of the money the congregation of that chapel can raise vis-a-vis the admittedly rising cost of keeping it open.

Of course I don’t think any more than a handful of people living outside of the immediate neighborhood of St. Joseph’s were ever aware it even existed. The so-called “art” on display – despite claims to the contrary – was anything but a major attraction. Finally, as always, despite the ever-growing population of Downtown New York, the Archdiocese was unable to attract enough parishioners to its chapel.

*As Hilaire Belloc entitled the events that succeeded the closing of the English monasteries by Henry VIII in the 1530’s.

We had reported earlier here and here on the “end of the churches”: the latest steps in the process of the sale of the closed Catholic churches of New York. Now comes The New York Times with further details:

The decision to deconsecrate — which means transform the houses of worship to secular purposes — was announced in decrees posted on the archdiocese website in June. The decree for each church said the move would allow the start of “negotiations that may lead to the sale of the property.” Two canon lawyers said it was the largest number of deconsecrations they had ever seen in a single day.

If history is any indication, the properties might be sold, razed and rebuilt as residential buildings. In a string of multimillion-dollar deals, a handful of Catholic churches were sold to developers in the past several years. For example, St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Harlem, its school and a nearby lot were sold to a developer for $6 million in 2012. Our Lady of Vilnius Church, by the Holland Tunnel entrance, was sold for $13 million in 2013 and was flipped a year later for more than $18 million. And the Church of St. Vincent de Paul and two other parish properties in Chelsea were sold to a hotelier for $50.4 million last year. The sale of one recently deconsecrated church, the Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz in Little Italy, to a developer has been approved. The church will fetch over $7 million.

Ferre-Sadurni, Luis, “18 Shuttered Catholic Churches May Soon Be Up for Sale”
(The New York Times, August 7, 2017)

A window in St Veronica’s showing the patron saint of the Parish.

As we just wrote, Archdiocesan information on the subject of church closings is never complete or reliable. We now read that the beautiful church of St Veronica on Christopher Street will now be celebrating its last mass on July 23. It had received a reprieve in the process leading up to Making all Things New. But apparently neither that, nor the efforts of the Ecuadorian community (for which it served as a home) nor its alleged status as a “shrine to the victims of AIDS” could save it.  The exterior is landmarked.

SOURCE

The Archdiocese places the onus on the pastor St Bernard’s / Our Lady of Guadalupe:

“The parish was merged a decade ago with Our Lady of Guadalupe parish and the pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe has decided that the church is no longer needed for Mass and sacraments on a regular basis,” Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, said.

SOURCE

Undoubtedly he, like all the other pastors of churches recently “relegated to profane use,”  sent Cardinal Dolan the (same?) letter requesting the closing of a “superfluous ” church….

“378 Broome Street”(source: Ariel Property Advisors New York)

Meanwhile, no sooner do we hear that the Church of Most Holy Crucifix is to be “relegated to profane use” than we read the “three story structure” is already under contract:

Investment Highlights
Ariel Property Advisors presents 378 Broome Street, a 25.75’ wide mixed-use conversion or development opportunity located in the heart of Little Italy between Mulberry and Mott Streets.

378 Broome Street currently consists of a three-story, 6,107 square foot structure that houses a sanctuary with high-ceilings on the ground floor and residential space on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The property will be delivered vacant, providing a unique opportunity for owner-users to capitalize on the neighborhood’s retail potential. Located in the Special Little Italy District, C6-2G zoning allows up to 10,730* buildable square feet, as-of-right, making it a rare ground-up development site in Lower Manhattan. br>
Situated in an area that is popular with both local residents and visiting tourists, 378 Broome Street is surrounded by many restaurants, hotels, shopping and cultural amenities. The 6, J and Z subway lines are all a short walk away, providing easy access to the rest of Manhattan and the outer boroughs.

Offering a prime retail location and development upside, 378 Broome Street presents owner-users, investors and developers with an outstanding opportunity to invest in Lower Manhattan.

SOURCE

This church, in its most recent incarnation as the “Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz” – a mass celebrated in December 2015:

The Filipinos, like the Ecuadorians, will have to find a new home. Both communities have had extensive experience with that in Manhattan.

Thanks to our local (anonymous) sources….

All Saints Church, designed by James Renwick, is one of the subjects of Cardinal Dolan’s decrees.

On Friday, June 30 Cardinal Dolan issued a series of decrees authorizing the relegation of closed churches to secular use – and authorizing their sale:

Decrees of 6/30/17

Each decree follows the same form. Generic whereas clauses – which do not relate to the specific facts of the parish in question –  assert a rationale for the decision. We note that prominently featured as the second such clause is Cardinal Dolan’s favorite “The Church is not an archeological museum;”  this is intended to delegitimize from the beginning any objections based on the “artistic” value of a church or its historic importance to a community or neighborhood. Such language does helpfully confirm, however, that the Roman Catholic Church of today views artistic beauty and historical importance ( evidenced by landmarking) as antithetical to its principles. It also would seem to acknowledge that some of the churches to be sold under these decrees have such significance. I am not sure at all, however, that the reference provided by Cardinal Dolan – which seems to deal with the significance of the Byzantine liturgy – in fact has the meaning he cites it for.

Next, the pastor (in one case it is the chancellor) of the combined group of parishes which includes the church to be sold, citing the “immense financial burden” to repair and maintain it, writes the Archdiocese a letter requesting its “relegation to profane use.” Which request is of course granted.

These are the churches in Manhattan. In each case we link to our article, if available, on the subject.

Parish of the Nativity

Parish of Most Holy Crucifix

Parish of Saint John the Martyr

Parish of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Parish of Saint Lucy

Parish of Holy Rosary

Parish of Holy Agony

Parish of Saint Gregory the Great

Parish of Saint Benedict the Moor

Parish of All Saints

As usual in such actions,  there are arbitrary surprises. The church of the Most Holy Crucifix (presumably the building most recently known as the “chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz” and where this Society sponsored the celebration of a mass as recently as December 2015) in now to be sold. St. Gregory the Great, after surviving “Making all Things New,” suddenly was closed; St Benedict the Moor had been closed entirely apart from the MATN process. Our Lady of Peace previously has been handed over to the Copts. Conspicuously absent from the list, however, is the historically most significant church Cardinal Dolan has closed, St Stephen’s. Although is no one concerned about the loss of Renwick’s All Saints, or of St Benedict, once the first Black church of New York, or of St Elizabeth of Hungary in the midst of its quaint streetscape?

Meanwhile, to the northeast of the Archdiocese of New York, the Archdiocese of Hartford is going through its own crisis of restructuring. In contrast to the Archdiocese of New York, Hartford has provided a more candid assessment of the source of its problems. Especially, as is set forth in this article by Peter Wolfgang:

There are 545,000 registered Catholics (in the Hartford Archdiocese), but only 122,000 attend Mass on Sunday. The missing 423,000 include members of my extended family and almost everyone with whom I grew up. Their absence saddens me more than do the closed buildings.

But then Mr Wolfgang continues:

And I can’t help wondering how things would have worked out if those parishes had chosen a different path. Imagine if those parishes in the Archdiocese of Hartford had spent the last 40 years fostering the Catholic orthodoxy of Pope St. John Paul II and the liturgical solemnity of Pope Benedict XVI.

In a way, yes. The author’s trying to get at the true root causes. But Mr Wolfgang seems to think these  “restructurings” are are a matter of individual progressive (“dissenting”)churches imploding and being closed. Regrettably that is not the case. For the problems of the Hartford Archdiocese were fostered from the top and spread Archdiocesan-wide under liberal hero John Francis Whelan (Archbishop of Hartford 1968-91). And his bureaucratic successors did little or nothing to alleviate the problems. The restructuring axe falls, moreover, not primarily on collapsed progressive parishes  but on all churches – poor, wealthy, half-empty or full  – very often on parishes which have sponsored the Traditional Mass.

Mr Wolfgang does bestow a complement to the parish of St Mary’s Norwalk – which features the Traditional mass! Too bad it’s in the Bridgeport Diocese!

Above: All Saints Church; Below: St. Elizabeth of Hungary

(Above) Stained glass window from the original Maronite parish church of St. Joseph in the chapel of St Joseph.

We have previously covered the story of St. Joseph’s: a nondescript modern chapel but heir to a long Arab-American tradition in this neighborhood as well as being the Archdiocesan “Catholic Memorial at Ground Zero.”

We now learn from the New York Post that the chapel (part of the parish of St. Peter) is in fact required to pay substantial rent for the space it occupies – a cost apparently borne by the Archdiocese – and, after recent massive rent increases, may close.

In the New York Post article there is not one word about the chapel’s alleged status as the Archdiocesan 9/11 shrine. Rather, resistance seems to be coming mainly from Arab-American groups concerned about the fate of what many years ago had been a Maronite church. So as the Roman Catholic presence in this neighborhood totters on the brink of extinction, not too far away the splendid new Greek Orthodox church of St Nicholas inches towards completion…

Continued from Part 1

St. Ignatius still presents a very handsome appearance to the visitor. The gold of the marvelously intact and well-maintained interior is festive but restrained.  The statues, altars and stained glass are very fine and typical of the period – but, in general, do not rise above the level of the artwork of other, more ordinary parishes of that era. Only the magnificent metalwork of St. Ignatius consistently achieves an artistic result fully commensurate with the impressive cost.  But, as we shall see, it is unfair to view each item of the decor in isolation.

(Above and below) Aspects of the decoration and furnishings of St Ignatius Loyola – trying to capture the spirit of a renaissance Roman basilica.

The lavish use of marble facing and the many mosaics are a distinctive feature of St. Ignatius Loyola church. Certainly the mosaics of the apse and of the Stations of the Cross are impressive and were very expensive to acquire. We have to admit, however, that mosaic work was perhaps the least successful branch of ecclesiastical art at that time. Compare, for example, the  somewhat later mosaics in St. Francis of Assisi church near Penn Station, celebrated in their day but likewise not totally convincing.

(Above) Mosaics in the apse: (below) mosaic stations of the cross.

(Above and below) Magnificent metalwork in the sanctuary of the church.

(Below) the sanctuary lamp.

The real jewel of St. Ignatius Loyola, though, both in 1916 and today, is the world-class baptistery in the rear of the nave. Indeed, it was planned and completed before the decoration of the rest of the church, the decoration of which conformed to that of the baptistery. Designed as a monument to St John the Baptist, it was initiated by the devotion of one Jesuit Father to the Baptist and funded by an unknown donor. A circular confection of mosaics, marble, metalwork and stained glass, St. Ignatius’ baptistery is unique among New York Catholic churches. It incorporates the work of a number of artists, including Tiffany studios. 9)

Much of the decoration of the church dates from one campaign in 1910-13 by the then pastor, Fr. Hearn, to finish the interior. Mosaics(imported from Venice), frescoes, statues, colored marble, stained glass and altars were installed at that time. We see here the tendency in this, the “golden age” of New York ecclesiastical art, to integrate all decorative elements in one whole. In St. Ignatius Loyola, a model of that artistic understanding was already at hand – the baptistery. The effect is to recreate the appearance of a Roman basilica in Manhattan. 10)  The more sophisticated artistic talent and greatly increased financial resources available to the New York Archdiocese after 1890 made possible the realization of such projects.

(Above and below) the Baptistery.

Now, in 2016 the Jesuits have celebrated yet another 50 years at St. Ignatius. There are far fewer Jesuits at the parish and its schools. But even if they are giving up apostolates from Auriesville, New York to Staten Island, the Jesuits will still retain a presence at St. Ignatius. Seen from the outside, the parish seems to have changed very little from 1966. The territory of the parish is still extraordinarily – and nowadays exclusively – wealthy.  I would guess that the neighborhood is far less Christian, and that the Catholics living there are far more “international” than the Irish and German parishioners of yore. The parish boasts an impressive number of registered households; as in the case of the rest of the Archdiocese, however, those actually attending services are but a minority. Still, St. Ignatius parish still enjoys an income, mostly from collections,  beyond the wildest dreams of most Catholic parishes.

The boys’ choir is gone – in return there are several “childrens’ choirs.”  The day nursery, once a charity conducted by the sisters of Bon Secours to help working mothers, has been transformed into a lay-administered “highly selective” preschool for the wealthy (tuition: $24,300 for the full day program). 11) St Ignatius also hosts an ambitious and impressive musical “outreach” program – most unusual for Catholic parishes. Indeed, the alleged influence of the musical program became a point of discussion  in the controversy over the renovation of the sanctuary in 2001-2002 (see below).

In recent decades St Ignatius Loyola parish settled into what could be described as a modern day Jesuit routine of catering to the rich while preaching a secular social gospel. Now ministry to the well to do is not without its dangers – both for the spiritual director and those he directs. That is especially so where, in contrast to 1916, the wealthy may bring to the table their own ideological baggage.

Let us mention a few recent highlights of parish history .

The funeral of Jacqueline Onassis (who was baptized at this parish but in more recent years had attended nearby St. Thomas More parish) in 1994 attracted an inordinate degree of media attention – and featured her “companion” reciting a secular poem. There has since been a series of “celebrity funerals” of individuals whose connection in some cases with the Catholic faith seems to me unclear.

In 2001 the Jesuits at last had decided to “renovate” the church – specifically, the sanctuary. Those of us familiar with the results of such plans at St. Francis Xavier, the other main Jesuit church in Manhattan, know what that likely would have meant. Yet, in a perhaps unique intervention by the Archdiocese to preserve a historic Catholic Church, Cardinal Egan in 2002 stopped the execution of this plan – specifically, the redesign and expansion of the sanctuary, including the removal of the communion rail. The pastor of St. Ignatius bellowed with rage:

(T)he sanctuary redesign is at the heart of what needs to be done. It would be a major compromise of our own integrity as a post-Vatican II community to spend over two million dollars refurbishing a Catholic Church and leave it as if the Council had never happened and the liturgy never reformed. (P)roceeding with a renovation without addressing liturgical needs would expose us to justifiable criticisms and even ridicule. It would be an embarrassment to the Society of Jesus to administer a Parish that had so glaringly turned its back on the liturgical movement inspired by Vatican II. 12)

We have heard that certain parishioners of St Ignatius Loyola itself were active in achieving this result. Indeed, Cardinal Egan contended there were significant divisions within the parish, despite the claims of the pastor, Fr. Modrys, SJ, that support within the parish for the renovations had been “overwhelming.” A New York Times reporter, however, was able just in a cursory survey to identify “some difference of opinion” among parishioners. 13) We might add that only a few years earlier a Catholic church – St Agnes – had been rebuilt in Manhattan restoring a communion rail – “as if the Council had never happened and the liturgy never reformed.”

Finally, as part of the Making all Things New program, the Archdiocese in 2015 suddenly determined to fold the parish of St. Thomas More back into St. Ignatius Loyola, thus reversing the actions of Spellman in 1950. That step, however, was never carried out in the face of vehement opposition – this time from the parishioners of St. Thomas More.(Although the “cluster team,” including representatives of both churches, also unanimously rejected the proposed merger)

So, St. Ignatius Loyola parish remains standing in solitary splendor with its intact church and array of schools. It would seem that St. Ignatius has managed to continue the ambitious mission typical of so many New York City Catholic parishes of a bygone age.  Naturally, the National Catholic Reporter in 2016 also acclaimed this parish. But we ask:  does what is lived and taught today at St. Ignatius still resemble the doctrines professed there in the past?   What exactly are the differences nowadays between St Ignatius Loyola and an upscale Episcopal parish of the City? This church, which of all Manhattan Catholic parishes has benefitted most from “demographic change,” may not have survived unscathed after all. For, as the German Catholic Church can testify, access to abundant financial resources is but one small aspect of the challenge of Christian mission.

PARISH WEBSITE (incuding a complete guide to the church)

1. Shea, John Gilmary, The Catholic Churches of New York City at 476-77(New York, Lawrence G. Goulding & Co, 1878)
2. Patrick Joseph, Fifty Years in Yorkville or the Annals of the Parish of St. Ignatius Loyola and St. Lawrence O’Toole  at 61- 63 (Parish House, New York 1917) (This is the best and most entertaining account of any Catholic parish in New York – it’s really a chronicle of the Jesuit order and the Catholic Church in the entire Upper East Side/Yorkville area)
3. Walter F. Modrys, SJ, “Jesuits Come to Yorkville” (Homily at the Sesquicentennial Mass; October 30, 2016)
4. http://nycnpc.org/db/bb_files/ST.-IGNATIUS.pdf (New York Landmarks Preservation Commission determination of 1969); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schickel_%26_Ditmars; Dooley, op. cit. at 157.
5. Dooley, op.cit. at 229-230.
6. Dooley, op. cit. at 299-301.
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regis_High_School_(New_York_City); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_J._Grant#Marriage
8. The Jesuits in Yorkville 1866-1966 (1966, Custombook, Inc., South Hackensack)
9. Dooley, op.cit. at 165-166 (followed by excerpts from a previously published contemporary guide to the baptistery)
10. Dooley, op.cit. at 246-256
11. http://ignatiusdn.org
12. Walter F. Modrys, SJ, cited at http://diaryofacityparishioner.blogspot.com/2006/04/passion-sunday-2002-st-ignatius-of.html
13. Wakin, Daniel J., “Modernization vs. Tradition as Egan Halts Church Facelift” ( The New York Times, March 30, 2002)

.

Restructuring comes to the Archdiocese of Hartford. Actually, closings of parishes and schools have been proceeding there for years now – look what happened to the New Haven parish which originally hosted the St Gregory Society. Now, however, the number of parishes are to be reduced from around 212 to 100 and, in ten years, even 85. In addition to the usual woes of the Catholic Church in America, the Archdiocese of Hartford, like Pittsburgh, continues to enjoy the long-term legacy of Catholic progressive rule; in Hartford’s case, that of Archbishop John Francis Whealon (1969-91)

The statistics for post-conciliar developments are shattering:

SOURCE

And detailed statisics from 2010-2015 show, if anything, greatly accelerating problems:

Archdiocese of Hartford Pastoral Planning: Data and Info

Tragically, but as is usual in such cases, parishes that have hosted the Traditional mass are among the most endangered. Regardless of Archdiocesan assurances that “nothing has been decided,” it is reported that the closing and sale of the church of St Margaret of Scotland in Waterbury is imminent. St. Peter in Hartford has low chances for survival. We read that parishes such as St Martha in Enfield, St Stanislaus in New Haven and the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Waterbury require “additional study” as to their fate. These are all churches which have, as we have reported on this site, at one time or other celebrated the Latin Mass.

In the materials the explanations given for the decline sound familiar from other restructuring plans. They should, because the same consultanting firms (in this case, Partners Edge in Minnesota)manage the process. The analysis of whether a parish lives or dies is relentlessly materialistic: parish revenues, number of sacraments administered, size of congregations, number of available clergy etc. – all in an essentially static environment. There is no idea of changing the paradigm, of growing through evangelization, or recruiting more seminarians, of bringing the non-practicing majority of Catholic back into the Church. Despite verbiage to the contrary all that is offered is a reactive downsizing strategy.

For the most obvious cause of the crisis can of course never be acknowledged – namely, the management of the Archdiocese by the Catholic clergy over the decades since 1965 under the new “constitution” of the Church, Vatican II. Quite the contrary, the new program is accompanied by an aggressive recommitment to the policies that brought about the collapse in the first place. The Archdiocese does try to devise explanations, for the benefit of benighted parishioners, why what once was sacred and important is no longer so:

Old church buildings, with their soaring sanctuaries and thin stained glass windows, are extraordinarily expensive to heat and maintain, Shanley said. Money spent on utilities drains resources from programs for the poor and other central elements of the church’s mission, he said.

“It is sad,” Shanley said. “There is great emotional attachment. But as people think about it, they realize that small numbers of people cannot possibly sustain these grand, gothic buildings. Nor do they want all their money going to paying for oil and electricity.” (Rev James Shanley, leader of the restructuring process in the Hartford Courant of 12/23/2016)

So now, in the estimation of the Archdiocese, maintaining beautiful parish churches contradicts the “central elements of the church’s mission.” Pope Francis of course is cited in pseudo-theological support:

Manship ( a parish priest in New Haven – SC) said the changes present the opportunity for Catholics to answer Pope Francis’ call to be “a missionary church, to be a church of the poor and for the poor.”

“We as Christians, we understand that the dying and transformation are a way for us to come to a deeper life with Christ and, hopefully, with the poor and with one another,” Manship said. “This is a call to embrace the cross and it’s difficult for all of us. We have to do it in faith and hope and love.” (Id.)

So presumably those opposing the closing of their schools and parishes, the potential destruction of their historic neighborhoods, are missing an opportunity to answer Pope Francis’ call, to “come to a deeper life with Christ and the poor” and are avoiding “embracing the cross.” Rarely has the clerical disdain for the laity been so brazenly displayed as in these patronizing remarks.

More recently we find the suggestion that all of the combined parishes (“pastorates”) may receive new names ( we have seen this idea raised here and there in the New York archdiocese):
It is being considered that each pastorate will be given a new name, one that does not repeat the name of another parish within the archdiocese. If there is a school within the pastorate, that school will take on the name of the pastorate.

SOURCE: Archdiocese of Hartford Pastoral Planning: Data and Info.

On paper, the Archdiocese of Hartford thus remains fully committed to the so-called “hermeneutic of rupture,” the destruction of the past: the elimination of the buildings of the old parishes and even their names creates the opportunity for a glorious new beginning. Whether anyone actually believes this, after years of experience of similar restructuring plans in the United States and places like Germany, is another question.

In a letter read to parishioners of St. John the Evangelist-Our Lady of Peace last weekend, it was announced that plans are under way for the sale of Our Lady of Peace Church on East 62nd Street to the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christian community. See the story:
http://www.cny.org/stories/Pope-Francis-Blesses-Our-Lady-of-Peace-Church-Sale-to-Egyptian-Coptics,15117