Posted on 05/03/2004 8:47:57 PM PDT by Maximilian
A vision of the future
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lacking a pastor, Holy Name turned to its pews
By Denise Smith Amos
At Mount Auburn's Holy Name Church, Sister Mary Gallagher performs many duties that traditionally fall to a priest. Holy Name is one of 43 local parishes without a resident pastor. To stay vibrant, it relies on nuns and lay people. Here, Sister Mary (center) holds hands with Nikela Owens of Fort Thomas (right) and James Hall, 12, of Mt. Auburn during a service. (Craig Ruttle photo)
MOUNT AUBURN - Holy Name Church is 100 years old - a milestone it almost didn't reach.
Fourteen years ago, the church was slated to close. Sunday attendance was down to 30, mostly white retirees who were not from the African-American neighborhood.
There was no choir. A priest played tapes of liturgical music from a boombox.
Now, about 110 people - half black, half white - attend Sunday Mass. A dozen singers are in the choir, blending Catholic songs with African-American spirituals.
Children form a wide circle and dance during Mass. People stay to chat long after services are over. Sunday attendance is growing.
It's barely noticeable that Holy Name lacks a full-time pastor. Instead, Sister Mary Gallagher performs many of the duties usually reserved for a priest.
As the Catholic Church decides how best to serve its members with fewer and fewer priests, Holy Name is a vision of the future. It's one of 43 area parishes without a resident pastor. Members rely on nuns and lay people's work.
Father Alan Hirt preaches only once a month, usually officiating at St. Monica-St. George parish in University Heights. He works 60 hours a week there, but wishes he had more time for Holy Name.
"To get to know them better would be a great thing," he says. "But given there are only 168 hours in a week, I really can't imagine finding spare time."
Visiting priests and an assistant pastor rotate preaching duties at Holy Name. A lay minister speaks on special occasions. A church member just became a deacon, to take on some of the priestly chores.
And then there's Sister Mary.
The 62-year-old nun leads volunteers who put together Masses, feed the homeless and counsel single parents. She coordinates fund-raising, pays the bills, publishes the weekly bulletin and keeps the furnace in order.
"If we were not here, there'd be a sense of abandoning a community," she says.
The church began its turnaround in 1990 with a part-time pastor, the Rev. Terence Meehan, and Sister Elizabeth Marie Bowyer as administrator.
They couldn't afford a music director, so they recruited a student from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
They forged closer ties with the neighborhood, starting a Walk for Hunger and a summer barbecue.
"There was a spirit of people working together and then bringing their friends," Bowyer says.
Helen Lester-Smith, of East Walnut Hills, is an active member. Growing up in the Sixties, she says, "Whatever the priest said went."
That's not so today, she says: "You have to do the work. You can't just sit in the pew any more."
It's true that I do my best to ignore it most of the time. But yesterday I was at a First-Communion party for some New Mass friends in Cincinnati, and then later I picked up a newspaper and saw this huge special section. There was more that's not on the website, like the "secretary/receptionist" who is telling us how we need to redesign the church to appeal to her. So I'm thinking, "Is this what you want to be attached to? Is this the source of sanctifying grace? Is this your church -- holding hands with Sr. Mary Gallagher and being distributed mass-consecrated hosts at a "communion service" run by some layman?"
I used to live 45 minutes North of Cincinnati and drove to St. Gertrude Church in Sharonville for ten years.
That church is building a mini-cathedral just North of the present location and it is near completion.
There was a connection with SSPX, but they decided to go it alone. The pastor believed strongly in The Roman Catholic Church and in St. Pius X's edicting that the Tridentine Mass would be the only mass until the Second Coming.
He, and many others, believe Pope John Paul II to be a failure and one who squandered a chance to raise the Church to its former status.
Unfortunately I believe that the pope has failed miserably in unraveling the errors created by Vatican II that has seriously weakened Christ's Church. There are times when it has appeared that this was deliberate!
Did you notice there were three different towns (or sections of Cincy) mentioned for three different parishoners? These hippies are seeking this place out.
St. Vincent's in Philly would have closed long ago if not for the hippies and homosexuals keeping the place alive. Although I wish St. Vincent's would just shut its doors, it does serve the purpose of keeping the more innovative, dissenting people out of the mainstream parishes. Rigali has told them that the extraordinary ministers can no longer wear albs, nor can they elevate the host with the priest during the consecration. There was a huge outcry from the feminazis in the congregation.
Whether they're following the cardinal's directives now, I can't say. but if they're forced to follow the norms, I expect some of them will open up shop in some dead episcopalian parish and call themselves something else. Others would return to their suburban parishes and cause trouble there.
We have one in Boston too. It's the Paulist center, where JFK receives Communion.
If that's the case, then why was this article headlined "A vision of the future"? Clearly this special report was prepared by the newspaper in cooperation with the diocese. This is Pilarczyk's "vision of the future." He says so in the other article. He says, "it's not the 1950's anymore and Catholics have to get used to the idea of getting by without priests."
Yes, but any lesbian nun can hold a "Sunday Service in teh Absence of a Priest." That "liturgy" was approved by the US bishops at their conference last November. It is already the norm in many places for weekdays, and it will become the norm on Sundays as well, if all continues to go as planned.
The "opponent" you refer to would be Pope Leo XIII who wrote his encyclical "Testem Benevolentae" against the error of "Americanism" with Isaac Hecker, the founder of the Paulists, specifically in mind. Naturally Hecker denied that he was an Americanist or that the pope could possibly have been thinking of him when he wrote the encyclical. But look at the Paulists now. Looks like Pope Leo XIII knew what he was talking about and could almost be said to have the gift of prophecy. The same pope who wrote the "Prayer to St. Michael" and instituted the prayers after Mass.
LOL. And Joseph Campbell. But seriously, we don't need Moyers reporting on this since we already have the Cincinnati Enquirer. And how did they pick this particular parish for their "Vision of the Future"? Did they just stumble across it, or were they directed there by the diocese?
Americanism would be an improvement. They've descended through Americanism into New Age therapeutism. I'd like to see Archbishop O'Malley kick them out of his archdiocese.
The primary consecrator at his installation was none other than Bernardin. He was auxilliary bishop under Bernardin until B left in 1982/3/4?to become archbishop of Chicago,at which point Pilarczyk succeeded him as ab of Cincy. He was programmed by the enemy to do a job and he is marching to his orders,although it hasn't been as easy as they had intended and expected. In fact,they have had to expose themselves before the coup was accomplished because it is taking longer than they anticipated.
I believe articles like this are good for our side because it tells us so much about the tehniques of the enemy. Knowing this as well as having confidence in God's justice and mercy,and always aware that the power of God is much greater than the power of the "evil one",we all need to conform our minds to the mind of the Church,pattern ourselves after Jesus Christ and speak the Truth in season and out of season while praying unceasingly. May the Holy Ghost fill our souls with an abundance of faith,hope and charity as we proceed.
Sal,I pinged you because I thought you would find it interesting generally.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.