[thor76]

"Bishop" Howard Hubbard, leader of the lavender mafia in upstate NY, stands accused of soliciting teenaged boys for sex in public places, and is alleged to be a a practicing homosexual. None of this is of my invention - it has all been in the news, quite openly over the past year.

And "Howie" is going to close this traditional, ethnic parish? How well he fulfills the agenda of Amchurch/Scamchurch!Typically, the proceeds from the sale of this building will enrich the Bishop's coffers - after paying of the legal settlements of the diocese.

Hubbard has done nothing in his nearly 30 year long reign of terror, but to deconstruct Catholicsm in the Capital District of upstate NY - close churches, drive away good, chaste vocations to the priesthood, and send decent faithful Catholics away in disgust.

He is surely being used by God as a chastisement of hte poor people of Albany!

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

In his homily, the Rev. Thomas Krupa said the closing means it's time for a "new direction, a new spirit to take over."

Wow! The modernists have become very bold in promoting their new religion.

[NYer]

Hubbard has done nothing in his nearly 30 year long reign of terror, but to deconstruct Catholicsm in the Capital District of upstate NY - close churches, drive away good, chaste vocations to the priesthood, and send decent faithful Catholics away in disgust.

The neighborhood surrounding St. Casimir's is now low income. Over the past decade, St. Casimir's School tried unsuccessfully to provide a catholic education to inner city youth. This closing may be the first of several. The City of Watervliet is expected to lose 2 of its 4 Catholc Churches. That would leave 1 Roman and 1 Ukrainian Catholic Church. However, it will soon gain a Maronite Catholic Church ;-D.

St. Casimir, Our Lady of the Angels and St. Patrick's lost their immigrant congregations, when they moved out of the city and into the suburban sprawl. You can learn more about the history of these churches, and their plight, from this Times Union article.

Churches struggle to survive

[AnAmericanMother]

Whatever the bishop's problems, if the church is not being attended and supported, it can't survive. The linked article (thanks, NYer) says that nobody much attends the downtown parishes except for the soup kitchen for the homeless - the locals prefer the storefront evangelical operations (including a mosque). They tried to do a school - it apparently failed for lack of interest.

There's nothing in the article about the Polish community banding together to raise money for the church or trying any alternatives to keep it open. I'd be happy to stand corrected if the bishop refused to consider any plan they proposed, but it looks like there are three big Catholic churches downtown with no parishioners and no financial support. Something had to give.

I notice that every single person quoted in the article is no longer a member of the parish, except possibly for the lady who adds as sort of an afterthought that she's been coming back for two years. But she lives 25 miles away. And I doubt she pledges to the church. It seems like the folks who are complaining have merely a sentimental attachment dating from the 1950s, and just showed up for the funeral.