Community Chat

[Burnsite]

Churches are needed in the inner city, and if they get the best churches, that is only fair, since the rich suburbs get a lot of other things (plus totally tacky and uninspired church architecture).

The Vatican should send the money to restore the church and feed the homeless, too: they have enough. I'll be a fan of Francis when he starts to divert funding to the poor.

[terrier3]

On 2/9/2014 Burnsite said:

Churches are needed in the inner city, and if they get the best churches, that is only fair, since the rich suburbs get a lot of other things (plus totally tacky and uninspired church architecture).

The Vatican should send the money to restore the church and feed the homeless, too: they have enough. I'll be a fan of Francis when he starts to divert funding to the poor.

I read that someone gifted him with a motorcycle..he auctioned it off and gave the $$$ to charities. It was a six figure sum too.

I know he is currently cleaning up the Vatican Bank...and eliminating a lot of curia positions.

[Lion]

On 2/9/2014 Disneylandfan said:

I think that's great that they can restore the building. Jesus only had 12 apostles at the end and look what was accomplished. Size of the congregation isn't the issue but the heart of the congregation is important. If the church can be maintained with the membership they have then why not let it continue?

Unfortunately, the size of the congregation is important, as well as their ability and/or willingness to contribute $$ for the upkeep.

There are so many parishes all over the country that have had to close down because financially they simply couldn't pay the bills. They had to consolidate with other parishes.

It has happened a lot in my area, too, and virtually all of those parishioners fought to keep their parishes from closing and being sold.

I'm guessing, but it seems likely that this probably wasn't really about someone just wanting to sell a building, but that this particular parish is having financial problems. As much as they may love their church/parish, if they can't sustain it with enough regular contributions, there's no other option.

[terrier3]

On 2/9/2014 Lion said:

On 2/9/2014 Disneylandfan said:

I think that's great that they can restore the building. Jesus only had 12 apostles at the end and look what was accomplished. Size of the congregation isn't the issue but the heart of the congregation is important. If the church can be maintained with the membership they have then why not let it continue?

Unfortunately, the size of the congregation is important, as well as their ability and/or willingness to contribute $$ for the upkeep.

There are so many parishes all over the country that have had to close down because financially they simply couldn't pay the bills. They had to consolidate with other parishes.

It has happened a lot in my area, too, and virtually all of those parishioners fought to keep their parishes from closing and being sold.

I'm guessing, but it seems likely that this probably wasn't really about someone just wanting to sell a building, but that this particular parish is having financial problems. As much as they may love their church/parish, if they can't sustain it with enough regular contributions, there's other option.

The parish was doing fine....in fact, it has been growing. They had already been merged with another parish to save money.

It was just a ham handed attempt to reduce the number of churches in the inner city. I don't think the bishops even imagined that preservationists, engineers, and other professional would volunteer their own services and do their own estimates.

We have also had schools that are being closed. It didn't matter whether they were self-sustaining or not.

One parish is fighting the school closing - will be turning into a private school.

[Lion]

On 2/9/2014 terrier3 said:

The parish was doing fine....in fact, it has been growing. They had already been merged with another parish to save money.

It was just a ham handed attempt to reduce the number of churches in the inner city. I don't think the bishops even imagined that preservationists, engineers, and other professional would volunteer their own services and do their own estimates.

We have also had schools that are being closed. It didn't matter whether they were self-sustaining or not.

One parish is fighting the school closing - will be turning into a private school.

Thanks, terrier. Was it confirmed that the parish was financially sound?

[terrier3]

On 2/9/2014 Lion said:

On 2/9/2014 terrier3 said: <p class="quote_author">The parish was doing fine....in fact, it has been growing. They had already been merged with another parish to save money.

It was just a ham handed attempt to reduce the number of churches in the inner city. I don't think the bishops even imagined that preservationists, engineers, and other professional would volunteer their own services and do their own estimates.

We have also had schools that are being closed. It didn't matter whether they were self-sustaining or not.

One parish is fighting the school closing - will be turning into a private school.

Thanks, terrier. Was it confirmed that the parish was financially sound?

Yes.

The issue was the amount of money needed to fix the church. The diocese said 12 million...the engineers and architects hired by the parish said $500,000 - and they have that in grants and donations.

[Lion]

On 2/9/2014 terrier3 said:

Thanks, terrier. Was it confirmed that the parish was financially sound?

Yes.

The issue was the amount of money needed to fix the church. The diocese said 12 million...the engineers and architects hired by the parish said $500,000 - and they have that in grants and donations.

I hope it all works out well. With the Pope's involvement, I'm sure it will now.

[Helen852]

Here's the article referenced by terrier3.

http://www.buffalonews.com/life-arts/religion/church-closings-in-limbo-as-rome-overrules-bishop-201...