At St. Stanislaus in New Haven, there will be a low Mass today for All Saints Day at 5:30 pm.

Centro Maria functioned for decades as a residence for women in the city. Yet, it was housed in a building that had started as a parish – St Ambrose.1) It was one of those curious New York City structures that, given the high cost of building, had united school, rectory and church all under one roof. (Corpus Christi parish near Columbia University is a later example) St. Ambrose parish, inaugurated with great fanfare, quickly fell victim to the increasingly dominant commercial focus of the West Side and the resulting depopulation. Yet through all these years this structure preserved its religious dedication, if in a different manner.

Now, it is reported, the Archdiocese’s need to fund legal settlements has brought Centro Maria and the heritage of a long-vanished parish to an end. Last year, the Sisters of Mary Immaculate, who ran it, and the last tenants were told to vacate:

The nuns and residents living there have been told by the Archdiocese of New York that they must leave by August 31, several people with knowledge of the plan told THE CITY.

They say the Archdiocese had been threatening to close Centro Maria and sell the 1910 building — a 30,000-square-foot, four-story property in Hell’s Kitchen — for at least a year.

But earlier this month, the sources said, the Church made a final decision to shutter the residence and told Centro Maria’s leadership the sale is needed to raise funds to pay for hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits. 2)

We read  the property is now earmarked for demolition:

Plans were filed with the city on Thursday to demolish the four-story brick building on West 54th Street that housed the Centro Maria Residence. Built in 1910 between 10th and 11th avenues, the building was also home to St. Ambrose’s Church. 3).

It had been listed for sale and is now “under contract”:

JLL has been exclusively retained to market for sale 539 West 54th Street, an outstanding development opportunity located between 10th and 11th Avenues, along the border of Hell’s Kitchen and Lincoln Square on Manhattan’s west side. Currently known as the Centro Maria, 539 West 54th Street is improved by a 5-story convent and religious establishment totaling approximately 43,500 square feet. The existing structure consists of dorm style rooms, common area spaces, a cafeteria and chapel. 4)

I had often walked by Centro Maria. I once had tried to obtain permission to photograph the chapel of the residence – only eventually to be turned down by the sisters (it was open, I recall, to the public for Sunday mass). I have found on the internet, however, several images of the chapel. These photos reveal that in the interior very little had remained of the old St. Ambrose church. And now, this relic, not just of the past but also of an apostolate, very recently flourishing, in the City – falls victim to the grim realities of today’s Church….

1. See The Churches of New York: Losses 5
2. Holliday Smith, Rachel, “Beloved ‘Centro Maria’ Women’s Home to shut as Allies blame Church’s Lawsuits,” The City, 8/24/2020 at https://www.amny.com/news/beloved-centro-maria-womens-home-to-shut-as-allies-blame-churchs-lawsuits/
3. Garber, Nick, “Longtime Hell’s Kitchen Women’s Home Faces Demolition, Plans Show” Patch.com 10/22/2021
4. https://www.us.jll.com/en/investorcenter/land-development-site/539-west-54th-street-newyork-ny-unitedstates
5. “Centro Maria,” Yelp (accessed 10/28/2021) (More photos of the interior)

(Thanks to Sam Howard)

From the report of the Polish bishops of their ad limina visit:

 On the one hand, the congregation admitted that the matter was resolved too harshly and that instead of serving unity, in individual cases, it could lead to someone leaving the Church because his needs were not met. On the other hand, the will to interpret the motu proprio broadly was expressed – more in spirit than in the letter of the issued law.

Today Pope Francis in no uncertain terms indicates what is the spirit of Traditionis Custodes and, for that matter, that of the current regime in the Roman Catholic Church. What follows are excerpts from his address at the general audience of 10/27/2021 – at which, so the Vatican reports, a significant number of American groups were present.

Saint Paul’s preaching is completely centred on Jesus and his Paschal Mystery. In fact, the Apostle presents himself as a witness of Christ, and Christ crucified (cfr. 1 Cor 2:2). He reminds the Galatians, tempted to base their religiosity on the observance of precepts and traditions, that the centre of salvation and faith is the death and resurrection of the Lord.

Today, there are many who still seek religious security rather than the living and true God, focusing on rituals and precepts instead of embracing God’s love with their whole being. And this is the temptation of the new fundamentalists, isn’t it? Of those who seem to be afraid to make progress, and who regress because they feel more secure: they seek the security of God and not the God of our security…. This is why Paul asks the Galatians to return to what is essential – to return to God, to the essential, not to the securities of God: to the essential – to the God who gives us life in Christ crucified.

And those who seek security, the small group, the things that were clear as they were back then, they live “as it was back then”, they distance themselves from the Spirit, they do not permit the freedom of the Spirit to enter into them.

 Sometimes, those who approach the Church get the impression that they are dealing with a dense mass of rules and regulations: but no, this is not the Church! This can be whatever association. But, in reality, the beauty of faith in Jesus Christ cannot be grasped on the basis of so many commandments or of a moral vision developed in many layers which can make us forget the original fruitfulness of love nourished by prayer from which peace and joyful witness flow.

General Audience of 10/27/2021.

I could write at length about these calumnies – since when in the post-Vatican II world has choosing to follow the traditional rites achieved “security” under any definition for any Catholic? Certainly not institutional security: traditionalists have neither job prospects in the bureaucracy of the Church nor any assurance that any of their congregations has permanent status! But more importantly, I believe the Pope is clearly asserting that “fundamentalists” (a code word, like, in the past, “integralist,” often used by the Vatican and the European Catholic churches for traditionalists) are not even Christians. 1) It establishes a fearful hermeneutic for Traditionis Custodes.

1. It is also most significant, given the presence of American pilgrims at this audience, that one of Pope Francis’s sycophants, Antonio Spadaro SJ, has for several years repeatedly linked (and denounced) Evangelical “fundamentalists” and Catholic “integralists” with specific reference to the political situation in the United States.

These Masses will be offered at St. Rocco’s Church in Glen Cove, Long Island.

Sunday, Oct 31 Feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ at 11:30am (as usual)

Monday, Nov 1 Solemnity of All Saints Mass at 7 pm

Tuesday, Nov 2 All Souls (Requiem) Mass at 7 pm

A nationality that once was extraordinarily prominent in the United States but has largely disappeared from view are the Germans. We recently had the opportunity to visit Cincinnati, one of the centers of German and specifically German Catholic immigration in the 19th century. These Catholics left their mark in a series of impressive churches. Two of these, Sacred Heart and Old St. Mary’s, are served by the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. We’ve recently read of drastic parish reductions to be imposed in the Cincinnati Archdiocese – we will say more about this later. Unless I am misreading the map of the proposed changes, however, these two churches will remain unaffected.

We attended Traditional Sung Mass at Sacred Heart Church. The church was completely full and the music was impressive.

Sacred Heart is well preserved – but the above photo shows the decoration was once much more elaborate. The parish has an ongoing project to restore the interior decoration. See CHURCH HISTORY for photos.

Old St. Mary’s church, ot the Marienkirche, is the oldest house of worship still standing in Cincinnati. It was founded by the German immigrants in 1841 – the cornerstone was laid on March 25, 1841 (the Feast of the Annunciation) and it was consecrated in 1842. It also is in the care of the Oratorian Fathers. The Traditional Mass is also offered here.

Across the river, Covington, Kentucky was also a center of German Catholicism. Their main legacy is the Mother of God parish church (Mutter Gottes Kirche) whose twin towers preside over an old neighborhood called the Mutter Gottes historic district. The interior is magnificently decorated – unfortunately the church was closed at the time of our visit.

A final monument to German Catholicism is Covington Cathedral( St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption). This church, as we see it today, was finished by 1915. Now the bishop who built it, Paul Maes, was a native of Belgium, and the exterior (below) is a strange copy of Notre Dame of Paris. But the interior is dominated by one of the most complete sets of stained glass by Mayer studios of Munich to be found in the United States. Perhaps only Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark has more such windows – but, installed after 1945, these are in a style which, if still beautiful, is no longer the classic Mayer pattern.

The Covington cathedral windows are impressive not just for their number but also for their size, culminating in three unusual depictions of the council of Ephesus and two Papal decrees. The window of the Council of Ephesus and of the Coronation of the Virgin is reputedly the largest handmade stained glass window in the United States.

A report from the ad limina visit of the Polish bishops. In discussions with the “Congregation for the Liturgy” (presumably the Congegation for Divine Worship), it was conceded that “the affair (of Traditionis Custodes) had been handled too harshly” and could lead to individuals exiting the Church. They were told to interpret TC “generously” (or “loosely”) and “more according to the spirit than to the letter.” According to this report, the pope has not said no categorically to the “Tridentine liturgy “ as such.

SOURCE (from the website of the German Catholic Church)

UPDATE:

Below is a translation of the original Polish report (Thanks to Christine Watkins)

Tridentine liturgy

The Tridentine liturgy was discussed in the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The bishops asked questions, especially related to parish churches, in which the liturgy could possibly be continued, as well as extending the possibility of celebrating it, in accordance with the motu proprio “Traditionis custodes”, should such a need arise in Poland in the future. On the one hand, the congregation admitted that the matter was resolved too harshly and that instead of serving unity, in individual cases, it could lead to someone leaving the Church because his needs were not met. On the other hand, the will to interpret the motu proprio broadly was expressed – more in spirit than in the letter of the issued law.

“The general rule is that priests who under Benedict XVI had permits to celebrate the Tridentine liturgy should have them. On the other hand, new, young priests who would like to celebrate this liturgy must apply to the Holy See with a written request for permission to be biritual [celebrating the liturgy in two rites – KAI]. The Holy See wants this matter under control. He does not say ‘no’ to the Tridentine liturgy as such, but is cautious due to the fact that in some countries of the world it is associated with an anti-Vatican II ideology that rejects the Second Vatican Council, ‘said Cardinal Nycz.