At least it was bought and paid for legally. Not a war trophy that is then converted.
In that vein, I would like to thank ALL of you who have included my parish, St. Ann's Maronite Catholic Church and my pastor, Abouna Elie Kairouz, in your prayers. As you know, Father purchased an old Methodist/Episcopal Church in nearby Watervliet, several years ago, with the intent of relocating his congregation there. The church was in a poor state of disrepair and required extensive restoration. Moreover, being a Protestant Church, there is no Sancturary. That entails reconfiguring the interior to conform to our Catholic faith.
Three years ago, we began the process of having the future church recognized as an historic landmark. It qualified and was so declared in December 2005. That qualified us for matching state grants and we began the process in March of this year. The grant forms are quite detailed and must match a theme. This year's theme focused on the Hudson River and Erie Canalways. Undaunted, we completed the forms and hand delivered them at the midnight hour.
80+ applicants applied for these matching grants. From that number, 37 met the state qualifications. From that number, only 6 grants were awarded and we were one of them!
Thank you ALL for your prayers!
I think I'd rather see our churches demolished than turned into mosques.
dhimmitude bump
The Archdiocese should have had an ounce of mission-mindedness and brought over Eastern Catholic clergy and nuns from India to take this church and EVANGELIZE this muslim community!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And finally tear the church down to the ground and sell the land. Don't let the buildings become the haunt of the enemies of Christ Jesus!
This is a mistake. But no one will realize how big a mistake it is until the little Bangladesh children grow up having been schooled in Arabic and the Koran.
Give it, say five to ten years and there will be little Bangladesh boys with bomb-vests terrorizing the city. And little girls "married" to men old enough to be their fathers.
God help us and help the USA.
Did you see this one?
The bishops are selling our churches to muzzies and using the money to pay off homo sex claims. SICKING! At least have the common decency to tear them down, losers!