I supposed it might have been inevitable for traditions to die off as the older folks pass on and the younger ones, who are working and don't have the time to spare, no longer keep them going. But as I said, in this particular parrish, things were handled badly. People became alienated and it just accelerated the decline.
It really made me sad when I attended the Greek Festival at St. Nick's in Oakland. This ia a vibrant parrish -- they even had very small children dancing the traditional dances and young and old keep their traditions alive (not to mention that wonderful food). I was thinking of how the traditions I learned as a child are gone -- the young in my neck of the woods don't know the first thing about them and now with the older folks gone and the younger ones no longer active participants, the future generations will never know.
Dear fatnotlazy,
I wasn't there, so I'm just speculating. However, my speculation is that the people of these diverse parishes were overpromised rather than underserved. Perhaps to buy peace, Bishop Wuerl overpromised what could be preserved in the new, consolidated parish.
sitetest