Back by popular demand, this was originally published Dec. 23, 2008. Apparently our "dark humor" is appreciated. It is sad that the American Catholic Church has come to this.

Twas the night before merger, when all through the church,

There were lists of new ministries for all to search.

The coffee mugs were hung by the cappuccino bar with care,

In the hopes that the barrista soon would be there.

 

Most parishioners were nestled all snug in their beds,

And visions of mocha lattes danced in their heads,

And Mama in the labyrinth and I with guitar,

Were amazed the Spirit of Vatican II had come so far.

 

When out in the coffee bar there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my "pew" chair to see what was the matter.

Away to the "community gathering area" I flew like a flash,

Tore through the spiritual dance practice area and fell into the full-immersion baptismal tub with a splash.

 

Whipped cream on the top of the freshly brewed jo,

Gave rise to a grumbling in my tummy below.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a hungry bishop with a New Age liberal agenda near!

 

With a bright shiny plan so vibrant and new,

I knew all our stodgy, old fashioned ways were through.

More rapid than eagles his closures they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

 

"Bye, St. Mary's! Bye, St. Anthony's! Bye, St. Gregory's and Holy Name!

"Bye, St. Jude's! Bye, St. Ann's! Bye St. Maurice, and St. James!

"From the top of the steeple to the floor of the hall,

"Now sell away! Trash away! Smash away all!"

 

As Wawas with crosses point up to the sky

When they meet at the Chancery, everything is a lie.

So out to the parishes the vultures they flew

With all the Conveners and Womonpriest Vollmer, too.

 

And then, at the door, I noticed a sulferous smell,

I looked up to see the director of priest personnel.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

His lackeys pushed the man next to me down to the ground. 

 

Another was dressed all in black, from his head to his feet,

The prettiest priest I ever did meet.

With shoes so shiny, every time he looked

He saw himself shining back and he was quickly hooked.

 

His eyes, how they twinkled! His teeth, how white!

His cheeks were like roses, his abs really tight!

If he worked really hard and kept his nose clean

He would surely climb to the top of the corporate machine.

 

But Terry Odien and Peter Joyce, they did not come alone,

With them was the man who sits on the Cathedral throne.

He had a mean face and a round belly crossed with a chain

That shook when he bellowed like a bowl of chow mein.

 

Bishop was chubby and plump, a right grumpy old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!

But the magnitude of his ego (the size of his head),

Soon gave me to know I had everything to dread.

 

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And emptied the bank accounts, then turned with a smirk.

And laying his fingers on everything he saw,

"To Follieri," he said, "I will sell it ALL!"

 

He climbed up in his minivan, to his deacon gave a whistle,

They smiled at each other, which caused me to bristle.

And I heard him exclaim as they drove out of sight,

"For some change is difficult, but for me a delight!"

 

Cleary's Notebook/Gloucester City News continues to follow the church closing debacle in their "Part 3" of a three-part series.  Most of the interviews were completed last winter, but not too much has changed since then.  Paula Carlton is an excellent writer and journalist and has done extremely thorough research for all three parts of the article. Thank you, Paula, Gloucester City News, and Cleary's Notebook.

Here's a letter to the editor from Diocese of Camden spinmaster, Andy Walton. Don't laugh right away, read it first.

Re: "Do not care" (letters, Aug. 27).

The letter writer from Magnolia, whose struggling parish is merging with two nearby parishes, suggested that Bishop Joseph Galante, his priest advisers, deanery planning teams, planning commission and Core Teams "do not care" about the pain being felt by parishioners when their parishes merge.

The feelings of loss that accompany change of this kind are not being ignored. In fact, unlike other dioceses that have moved far more quickly with parish reconfigurations, the bishop insisted there be a period of 12 to 24 months before he issued decrees formally establishing new parishes. He did this in recognition of the sense of loss he knew would be experienced and to give parishes adequate time to prepare to come together.

During this time, he has heard personally from parishioners in every part of the diocese and has acknowledged the disappointment many naturally feel. The fact is, if he didn't care, he would not be taking steps to address the needs of Catholics in South Jersey. If he didn't care, he wouldn't be working to reverse downward trends in religious practice.

The fact is, it is precisely because the bishop cares so deeply about the well-being of parishioners and because of his great love for the Church and the people of South Jersey that he has undertaken the effort now under way to strengthen parishes and improve care to the people.

ANDREW WALTON Office of Communications Diocese of Camden Camden

St. Gregory's:
Andy's talking about the beautiful St. Gregory's (above) in Magnolia. Galante, McGrath, and Walton "care" so much they seem to have sold the property to Wawa. Who do they think they're fooling? We've got pictures of the surveyors sent to us by a concerned reader back last Christmas. Money talks, and to the tune of 10 million dollars, apparently. Empathy my foot. It's prime real estate.


View Larger Map

"Downward trends in religious practice":
As to the misleading demographic information continually touted by Mr. Walton, we've addressed it numerous times. It's lies. Just look here and here and here. All you have to do is look on a map to see where Magnolia is to know that the Catholic population in that area can only be expanding, not decreasing. We're not talking rural Fairton, Cumberland County here or Dennis Township, Cape May County. We're talking close proximity to Philadelphia in a congested, continually expanding area of South Jersey.

The plain fact is that the Catholic population in NJ and in South Jersey in particular is dramatically increasing. In fact the Catholic population in NJ has increased by at least 2.5% since 1990, by roughly 100,000 people. In Gloucester County alone we're looking at a Catholic increase of at least 20% since 1990. The Catholic population is only decreasing in South Jersey's only true urban centers, Camden and Atlantic City, as illustrated below:

                    Deptford           Salem County                Camden                   Atlantic City

1950                 7,304                 49,508                       124,555                       61,657

1960               17,878                 58,711                       117,159                       59,544

2006-7*          30,529                 66,595                         80,010                      39,684

*most recent available estimate

"Reversing Downward Trends":
Do they really care about reversing supposed downward trends or about justifying their own agenda? If all they care about is giving people what they want, they should stop watering down the Faith and desiring to build protestant style megachurches. And if they are truly targeting young adults, as they should, this group wants one of two things, neither of which the Diocese of Camden is offering: (1) an authentic and unapologetic Christianity, or (2) at the very least, clarity and a lack of hypocrisy. This is why you see the most traditional churches and religious orders growing. Alternately those who are leaving the Church are leaving for a protestantism whose Christianity is clear and faith exacting. Others who leave leave the Faith and stay away out of disgust for the likes of people like Walton and others who pretend religion but in reality have nothing but political motives. See these comments on Andy's letter, for example:

bjd0305:

It is more effective to have fewer churches with more people in them. god is a hell of a businessman
9/2/2009 8:27:08 AM

firebird 7478 replying to bjd0305:

Which is why he's always asking for more money.
9/2/2009 10:41:42 AM

Case in point. House of "Charity" anyone?

"Feelings of Loss that Accompany Change":
We addressed this patronizing attitude just the other day. So we quote ourselves!

They have spewed psychobabble pertaining to the alleged difficulty that we, the laity have coping with change. This kind of patronizing dribble is without merit because it fails to address the purpose of the change and merely holds up "change" as having inherent value. This type of rhetoric attempts to put the Catholic faithful on the defensive, as if we have to prove our ability to healthily cope with change by accepting the destruction of our parishes. The question remains, is the change we are expected to embrace a change toward the Good, toward God's Will, toward God Himself? What are we supposed to be changing to?

"Heard Personally From Parishioners":
And, apparently, listened to few of them. Go ahead and ask St. Gregory's how "listened to" they're feeling right about now. They got "listened" right into closure.

Here are a few comments on a recent letter to the editor lamenting the pain that Catholic parishes are now enduring. The person who emailed us the link to these comments said this:

Please check out Charlie 164's post. He is saying that even parish core teams are realizing that the bishop's reconfiguration plan will financially hurt the parishes and Catholic schools. Remember, core team members had to take an assessment to prove that they were open minded about the bishop's plans before they could be designated core team members.

Geraldine:
just wait til the churches come down and the wawas go up
8/10/2009 9:47:13 AM

Charlie164:

I am fortunate to have a Eucharistic Adoration slot once a week. This gives me a little time for spiritual reading, among other things. I happen to love the many books written by Joan Carroll Cruz, such as The Incorruptibles, Secular Saints, and the one I had with me, which is called Miraculous Images of Our Lady. I was reading about Our Lady of Siluva (see also this link).

Our Lady of Siluva
In the early through mid-1500s, Lutherans and Calvinists were able to win over converts in Lithuania, but only among the nobles and ruling class. The peasantry (the vast majority of the people) remained staunchly Catholic, but were persecuted. Church properties were confiscated and turned over to Protestants. In 1570 the church in Siluva was similarly threatened and in his wisdom, the pastor, Rev. John Halubka, collected

some of the church's treasured articles including a few vestments, a favorite image of the Madonna and Child that hung above the main altar, and the church's records. Placing them in a metal-covered oak chest, he buried it a short distance from the church near a large rock. This was providential, since the church was soon seized by Protestants.

Finally, in 1588, a new law was passed which gave Catholics the right to repossess church properties unjustly taken from them, but the documents clearly proving previous ownership were required. For the church at Siluva, documents could not be found to prove that Peter Giedgaudas had given the land to the Church in 1457.

...in the summer of 1608...children shepherding their flocks, saw a beautiful lady standing on a large rock. Holding a child in her arms, the lady wept bitterly. Startled by the vision, one of the children ran to a Calvinist teacher, Mikola Fiera, who promptly claimed it to be an apparition of the devil who was trying to draw people away from Calvinism.

Hearing about the vision, people flocked to the rock. The Calvinist teacher continued to insult and riducule the people for paying any creedance to the children. But the Lady and Child appeared again. Fiera, the Calvinist, asked Her, "Why are you weeping?"

Sadly the vision answered, "Formerly in this place my son was adored and honored, but now all that the people do is seed and cultivate the land." Saying this, the lady and child disappeared.

The Calvinists tried to dismiss and argue against the apparation, but the people knew that they saw Our Lady and the Holy Infant Jesus. Shortly thereafter, Mikola Fiera left Siluva. The bishop had the matter fully investigated. A blind man, having heard about the vision,

remembered the metal-covered oak chest that the pastor had buried years before....when...taken to the rock, his sight was immediately restored. He was then able to indicate the exact location of the chest.

Inside they found all the contents, including a miraculously undamaged picture of the Virgin and Child. Now having the papers in their possession, the Catholics were able to get their church back, although it took years of court negotiations with the Calvinists. Because of the sheer number of people attending the church, it had to be expanded and expanded again in 1786 (picture left). By order of the bishop, in 1663 a chapel was built in the exact location of the rock, but again the sheer number of people required its expansion in 1818 and then in 1924. (The apparition was officially approved by Pope Pius VI.) The miraculous image has been credited with many countless healings.

We may even visit a shrine to Our Lady of Siluva in Washington DC at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where beautiful mosaics depict the story.
 

Our Lady's Desire
In the case of Our Lady of Siluva, She wanted Her Son to be worshiped, the church returned to Catholic hands. In the history of our Catholic faith, there are many such stories that have gone like this. I'm sure you might know of some others. What does Our Lady always do, without exception? She points to Her Son. She wants nothing more than for Her children to worship Her Son, Jesus. So when She miraculously appears, what does She so often request? She requests that a shrine or church be erected in a certain spot.

In the history of our Church, can you think of one single time that Our Lady has requested that a church faithfully dedicated to the worship of Her Son be closed? When has she said, "Knock it down! Cose it up! Replace it with a Wawa!" No, never. Not once. She has appeared miraculously in the obscurest of locations, in places where the church had long ago fallen into ruin. But no mere falling mass attendance deters Our Lady. The church can be laying in pieces on the ground and She requests it be raised up again and the worship of Her Son continue. And it does. Why? It is Our Lord's holy will, and Our Lady's desire. Of that we can be completely confident. Truly Our Lady weeps at such travesties as churches falling into disuse, disrepair, or closure.

At St. Mary's we know that Our Lady is with us. She is our much loved patroness, as She is the patroness of every Catholic. She is our Single Greatest Advocate in Heaven, our Queen, Mother of every saint, and our Mother. Most of all, She is Mother of the Church, Mater Ecclesiae, and she intercedes for the Pilgrim Church on Earth. This is why at St. Mary's over the past year She has granted us the grace of her miraculous image changing color before our eyes. In this small way, She has reassured us of Her loving presence and protection. "Our Lady of Malaga," Mater Ecclesiae, ora pro nobis!

This letter/article was submitted to Save St. Mary's a few days ago. We thank you for your submission.

I wrote a small piece and will send it to the Courier Post. The CP will never publish an editorial that doesn't glorify the Camden Diocese, So, I decided to share with your site too.

Can you serve both God and Mammon*?
It seems Bishop Galante thinks so.
Find Christ's answer here and the author's below.
(* Mammon: Riches, worldly interest See Luke 16:13 and Matthew 6:24)

Announcement from the Camden Diocese: Low enrollment, rising deficits force closure at end of school year of Our Lady of Guadalupe...

Here we go again!

Our Lady of Guadalupe's in Bridgeton will close at the end of this year due to low enrollment. It's no surprise that their enrollment continued to decline when you consider the atmosphere that Bishop Galante has created within the Catholic community of the Camden Diocese. How could enrollment grow with massive school closings, escalating tuition, and Church closures that demonstrate how the Diocese has turned its back on promoting our faith? The Diocese will quickly point to the declining numbers within the schools; on the other hand, one could speculate that poor decisions by a Diocese not driven by faith are at the root of the numbers decline.

Then we have the Church closures. Take a look at St. Gregory's Church in Magnolia and the prospect of this beautiful church becoming the site of yet another Super Wawa.

The beautiful St. Gregory's in Magnolia, NJ

These church closures represent a battle, Land Value vs. Faith. Sadly, I think land value is winning.

Surveyor outside St. Gregory's Magnolia.
Look out! Your church is next.

The people of the Camden Diocese need to say, enough is enough and unite to stop the damage this Diocese has done. With an apparent lack of devotion to our faith by those in charge at the Camden Diocese, how could the numbers increase in the pews or in the classrooms? Their devotion appears to be to the business of running a Diocese.

To top it all off, there is a general mistrust of Bishop Galante due to his dealings with Follieri, who is a criminal with his hands in the real-estate market.

One has to question Galante's motives in the light of his ties.

Bishop Galante on the front page of the
7/15/08 NY Post because of his financial
involvement with criminal Raffaello Follieri

For the future, my hunch is more closures will follow. In my area, watch out St. Teresa's in Runnemede. Forget about the dedication of the IHM sisters or your 80+ years of teaching our children so much more then just the academics. You are sitting on prime real estate (Black Horse Pike & Evesham).

View Larger Map

I beg you, if your number is called, don't go quietly.

Whether it's a school or church closure, it's all related. Neither closure will promote growth in the Catholic Faith. Both closures will free up real estate that could be sold for big profits. What is Galante's objective, to promote our faith or make money? Is he the right man to lead us in our faith? I think not.

In closing, Thank You Father Romanowski (St. Mary's Malaga) for proving that there is good in the churches of the Camden Diocese.

D. Lamancusa

We were all insulted when Bishop Galante referred to our churches as Wawas with crosses.  Now, we are hearing that the deal is sealed for the sale of St. Gregory's, Magnolia to Wawa for the sum of approximately $10 million.  There was speculation, right from the beginning, that this was the plan for St. Gregory's.  So much for everything continuing as usual until a decree is issued - not that we believe ANYTHING from the Chancery anymore anyway. 

This should never be allowed to happen!  Galante, Vollmer, McGrath, Joyce - how do you sleep at night?

  

Hmmm...the only thing that St. Mary's lacks in "vibrancy" is frothy mochaccinos. Oh well, our loss. There's a Wawa down the street.

• The Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima is available for devotion in the home. Call the rectory or sign up in the back of the church.

• Father kindly thanks everyone for the lovely cards and gifts he received for his birthday. (Incidentally, the party was a lot of fun and we hope to get some pictures up soon!)

• A new Praesidium of the Legion of Mary will be on Sat. Oct. 4th at 10:00am.

• Donations to the food pantry are requested.

• Movie night, which is every 4th Saturday, will be Sat. Sept. 27th following the 5:00pm mass. The movie Miracle of St. Therese will be shown. All ages are welcome, and refreshments will be available.

• Family Game Night, which is every 1st Friday to coincide with First Friday devotions, will be on Fri. Oct. 3rd. There will be a potluck dinner from 5:00-5:30. Bring a game to share from 5:30-6:30. After that, there will be Rosary in the church beginning at 6:30, Sacred Heart Devotions and Benediction at 7:00, and Holy Mass at 7:30.

• Junior Legion of Mary will meet in the Shrine Room on Thursday from 4-5:00pm. Draw closer to Jesus and Mary through the Holy Rosary, Legion prayers, and our holy pastor's instruction. Bring Jesus and Mary to others through your prayers and service.

• Junior choir will practice on Tuesday from 6:30-7:30pm. Sing at various masses and Christmas concerts, as well as at local nursing homes.

• A Camden Diocese sponsored Marian pilgrimage to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception will be on Saturday Oct. 11. Call 856-845-8575 if you're interested.

• CCD will begin October 5th. Don't forget to register if you haven't done so already!

• CCD teachers and aids: There will be a meeting in the Shrine room on Sept. 28th after the 8:30am mass.

• A Harvest Dance with Jerry Blavet will be hosted by Queen of Angels parish and held at Notre Dame Regional School (601 Central Ave., Landisville) on Sat. Nov. 22nd from 7:00pm until midnight. Doors open 6:30. $25 admission includes buffet, dessert, coffee, soda, etc. (BYOB) Tickets on sale now. Call 856-697-1450 to buy a ticket. There is limited seating, but tables of ten can be reserved, so buy your tickets now.

Undoubtedly some things have been left out, so please don't hesitate to contact savestmarys with your news/event information.

This one is by James Stephenson. I was handed the letter but I'm not sure to which newspaper(s) he sent it. I'm impressed with several of his points, since they are ones not often stressed, and he is speaking from the point of view of a senior.

Re: CLOSING CATHOLIC CHURCHES

I've been reading with interest the heart breaking stories from people who are having their churches closed. I agree with them for the most part. I, though, have a different concern. Is this bishop truly Catholic? What true shepherd would insult the greater portion of his flock by calling their churches "Wawa churches"? Then he insults seniors by saying we only go to church to socialize. No, your Excellency, we go to church to praise, honor, glorify, and worship God in general and Jesus Christ in particular. I have to wonder why he goes to church!

No, we donot need his day care either! Most of his daily communicants are seniors who are also responsible for much of the upkeep of the buildings and grounds.

1. What bothers me more is his remark about needing mega-churches with paid ministries,not small churches that focus on celebrating liturgies. Is he trying to get rid of the mass? The mass is about the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Get rid of liturgy, whether mega or small church and you have no Catholic faith.

2. Also, his remark about faith being about relationships, not about rules. Once again, the Catholic Church is all about rules. The rules that Jesus Christ gave us to run his Church, that is what sets us apart from other faiths.

3. This one really makes me wonder where His Excellency is coming from! He says the traditional hierarchy of the  churches must change--the hierarchical setup that's been in place for two thousand years--just because Bishop Galante says so. And he wants to replace it with lay people?I repeat, is he truly Catholic? Is he trying to destroy the Camden, New Jersey Diocese with his grand scheme of mega-churches?

If we have a shortage of priests,he is part of the problem, not the solution. To date he has removed at least twenty good, orthodox priests from their parishes, some of whom have served under three and four other bishops with no problem.

Why not return them to active church service? And why has he only removed orthodox priests???

Most of the remarks that I refer to are in the 02/04/08 Courier Post.*

James Stephenson
Malaga, New Jersey

*I think he means the remarks of Galante to which he refers are taken from an article published in the Courier Post. Would it have been 04/02, though?

Bishop Galante, be advised: If you should choose to keep up this unholy battle to close the shrine parish of St. Mary's Malaga, you will have a tremendous uphill battle ahead of you. We will fight you all the way to Rome if that's what it takes. The pressure will not cease, it will only increase. We will use canon law and civil law to protect what is holy and True.

Warning: Plainspoken Julie below. Feel free to add you two cents about this evening!

Tonight, Bishop Joseph Galante visited our little church. It was packed to overflowing and people picketed out in the street. It was an impressive turnout, to say the least. Interestingly, Bishop Galante brought a whole cavalcade of people along with him, including Roberta Small and "Sister" Marilyn vollmer, commonly known around the diocesan offices and beyond as "the other bishop." (He brought her along with him from Texas when he came to NJ.) You'd never know she was a "religious." He also brought along Fr. Carmen Carlone, pastor of St. Joe's in Hammonton.

As an aside, I joined St. Joe's awhile ago even though I never, ever attend (except once a year for the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and that's about all I can stand). I joined hoping that I might be able to request "as a parishioner," that they offer Eucharistic adoration there. While I'm no longer a member there (and was in name only--the "liturgies" there were that appalling), when I attended the "welcome to the parish" event "Father" Carmen sported a salmon pink tank top, capris, and leather thong sandals. He's a real character. I have never seen him in a collar, actually, until tonight. He must've had that suit specially dusted off and pressed for the occasion. He looked good. But I digress.

The bishop and Msgr. Joyce, the slick moderator with the shiny shoes, gave us "one hour and ten minutes," with 2 minutes per person, to say our piece. Lots of incredible things were said, I couldn't even hope to repeat them all here. There was so much courage and conviction in the room, and lots of applause for points well-made. If the bishop got nothing else from our meeting, he must know this: that we are not, I repeat NOT going to give up until we obtain victory not just for St. Mary's, but for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament who must be so outraged and offended by the actions of this bishop.

Friends of St. Mary's, let the Blessed Sacrament be at the very center of our struggle. So many tonight spoke to the bishop about their love of the Blessed Sacrament. Several children spoke about their experiences at Eucharistic adoration, and one girl who looked to be about ten said that she'd gone to adoration at 3AM this past night for the sake of our church, and walked off in tears. One little boy of about eight told the bishop he wanted to be a priest at St. Mary's! One man, who does not drive, takes the bus all the way from Margate to attend St.Mary's and to go to adoration there. How inspiring. And he wasn't the only one. Person after person stood up and said how far they go to get to St. Mary's and how they pass this church and that one because what St. Mary's has is truly special. And yet to the bishop, the level of commitment and love for the Lord that exists at St. Mary's is simply not "vibrant" enough.

I myself witnessed to the bishop of the heresy preached on the website of the parish of St. John the Evangelist, the millionaire South Florida church he holds up as the model he believes South Jersey churches should become. At St. John the Evangelist, they believe that the bread and wine remain after the consecration as the Lutherans do and as the Council of Trent condemned. That's called consubstantiation. It's heresy. He just sat there smugly and shook his head at me. But I spoke the truth, and he knows it. The truth cannot and must not be hidden!

One wonderful woman spoke with such conviction about the fact that clearly, this whole thing must be about money, and that we must withhold our money from the diocese if they won't listen to us. They're our churches, we've paid for them, and they want to take them away from us anyway. I completely agree with her--I will not give a dime until St. Mary's is safe.

The bishop admitted that the "community church" model of megachurch that attracts many people--you know, that lukewarm, happy clappy, superficial religion--should be what we model our future churches on. Boy does he have it all wrong. He thinks Catholics are going over to the evangelicals because they want to be entertained. He's wrong. They are seeking out truth and not hypocrisy. I question whether they find it there in those sorts of churches, of course, but I understand what they're looking for. Bishop Galante expressed that he thinks "young people" want a paid youth minister and all sorts of services and "ministries"--all the "ministry" money can buy. He's wrong. The bishop couldn't be more wrong. Youth want the Truth, pure and simple. They want to be real Catholics, not sugar-coated, watered-down ones. And if they can't be that or do not know how to be that, they're going to leave. More of the same old crap that they've been feeding us over the past 40 years isn't going to make the situation better, it's going to make it worse. Non-practicing Catholics (including a sibling of mine) are completely disgusted by this whole situation. Closing the churches that are their last remaining physical connections to the Catholic faith will only distance them further.

When Bishop Galante had the opportunity to speak at the end (and some of the points he made I've mentioned above), he was extremely unconvincing. It was really just the same stuff he's been saying for months, so no surprises there. However, he may have been surprised by our allergic reaction to his remarks and the continual interjections from the peanut gallery (myself included, I was very hot under the collar). His rationale is completely nonsensical and we all saw through it tonight. It was wonderful that he impressed, convinced, or persuaded no one. We were truly united as a community, a thing Galante supposedly seeks to encourage--by tearing down our churches and building up artificial communities. He came in knowing he had his own plans and that he would not truly listen to us. The whole thing was for show, really, just to pretend he actually cares, just like the "speak up sessions." None of us fell for it.

In a nutshell, Bishop Galante is still claiming there will be a priest shortage, that Catholics are not attending mass, that churches need to be open seven days a week, "vibrant" liturgies need to happen everywhere (whatever the hell that means--I guess holy, Catholic liturgies are less important), that we need to have peppier music, and that outreach is centrally important. Of course, all of us sitting in the pews, in answer to every point he made about how the churches need to change, said, "we ARE doing that." St. Mary's is open all the time. It is "vibrant" liturgically, it does do outreach (but in a personal rather than a "slick" sort of way), and does have authentic, Catholic music.

The bishop also stood up and shamefully lied about several things, such as the financial motivation. He said that the assets of a parish, once merged, remain within the new entity. He failed to mentioned all the money grabbing that would occur after the "merge" (closure) and his power to control said assets. He failed to address several questions posed by the parishioners, including one very important one posed by Leah Vassallo, which was, basically, "What could St. Mary's do to demonstrate its 'vibrancy' to you, Bishop? Do you even think it's possible for a small church community of about 250 families, such as ours, to be vibrant?" After the bishop finished speaking (after having been interrupted numerous times by the faithful in the pews), Leah demanded he answer her question, and he completely ignored her. But in a way, I think he did answer her question. He talked about nothing but numbers and "big" churches, paid ministries, and bringing in masses of people. (Of course, when you close all these churches the megachurches will have to be large and bustling--they'll be the only places left to go! May God spare us that abomination!) While he conceded that even large churches could fail to be vibrant, the definite implication was that this was an exception. Big=vibrant to the bishop.

Bishop Galante was also confronted about his use of the name "Wawa" to refer to our little churches. Wonderfully, the speaker, our cameraman and a self-identified "Catholic in name only" and "doubting Thomas," said that Wawa was so successful because "there's one on every corner" and you can easily find them! Also, you always know you can get good food there and good service. Haha! What a wonderful point. Perhaps we should claim the term "Wawa church." As in, "My church is a Wawa church! You can find St. Mary's always open on the corner of 40 & 47!"

Finally I ought to mention that Bishop Galante stated that he could have come to this diocese and had an easy last few years before retirement, to which all of us applauded and said, "Why don't you?!" He was not happy with this remark and several times over admonished us to act as Christians. Last time I checked, it's our job as Christians to stand up and tell the truth. "Nicey-nice" ain't synonymous with Christian. But again, I digress. Anyway, the bishop said his "conscience wouldn't allow him" to keep things as they are, the "status quo" as he calls it.

As the days go on, Friends of St. Mary's, I am increasingly convicted. I know that we are doing the right thing, that God is on our side, and that we are doing His will. And the more unsavory information I learn of the bishop and his past, the more I realize that something unholy is afoot. We must continue to pray for the bishop, for nothing is impossible with God, and for the priests of our diocese. And let us keep working to save A Light in the Diocese: St. Mary's!

(PS: My four-year-old son Theo would like to add, "St. Mary's is a special church." He typed that himself.)





Friends of St. Mary's Malaga: Please email me, call me, comment here, or send letters detailing your experiences of this evening and opinion of the bishop's scheme. Feel free to comment below.

"Even if there was no shortage of priests, the diocese would still move forward with the configuration." -Andrew Walton, spokesman for the Diocese of Camden

Boy, the henchmen of the diocese just can't get their story straight, can they?

First it was about a lack of priests going into the future, but now it's not about that. In the Gloucester County Times this morning, Andrew Walton, spokesperson for the diocese, belittled the concerns expressed by the laypeople whose churches are proposed to be closed. He said these types of displays [the rally] are "to be expected." How condescending. I suppose it is also to be expected that the "speak out sessions" were a complete farce. The people could "speak out" but the bishop sure wasn't listening.

Walton patted us laypeople on the head again:

"The display is an indication of these parishioners' love for their parish. It's an affirmation really of the importance they place on their faith," Walton said. "But over time, there will be an increased appreciation, I believe, even among those who are disappointed with the decisions."

HA! Now what does that sentiment remind you of? Remember when Mommy or Daddy said to you when you were a kid, "I'm doing this for your own good." Or, my own Mom's special favorite, "I know you don't understand now, but when you're older... (fill in the blank)" My little dearies, you will understand in time the wisdom of our decision when we sold off the church of your ancestors, didn't tell you why, and had it demolished and replaced with a strip mall/SuperWawa/etc. Is it any wonder that the bishop referred to our small, historic churches as Wawas with crosses? Perhaps they were taking up space he saw as more appropriate for Wawas. Churches are so non-lucrative, after all, they ought not be taking up prime frontage. Right now I'm thinking specifically of St. James in Ventnor, just a stone's throw from the casinos. Yeah, sure, that historic church will survive.

I don't know what universe Walton's on, but I seriously doubt people are going to appreciate their churches being taken away from them just so that they can go to the local McChurch.

Even though they expect a decrease in priests (founded or not), Walton said that, "even if there was no shortage of priests, the diocese would still move forward with the configuration."

"It's not being driven primarily by the number of priests available. It's being driven by the desire to create stronger parishes. The bishop has indicated his primary motivation is to revitalize parish life."

Oh yeah? What if the church doesn't need "revitalization?" What if the local church is as "vitalized" as possible? I suppose what we really need to do is translate. Perhaps what the bishop means by "revitalize" is "enlarge" (as in, create megachurches) or "make less distinctively Catholic." If the little, old historic churches are what he's targeting for closure (the ones already bought and paid for, by the way, and more easily disposed of), he may also be getting rid of the churches that retain the most traditional architectural elements: altar rails, large statues, real stained glass, and non-stadium seating. Well you know what? The churches don't belong to the bishop. Apparently others agree with me on this point.

I love what Anthony Mecca of Queen of Peace Parish, Pitman, said:

"The people in Pitman bought that ground and built that church and it belongs to them," Mecca said. "You can't just take it away."

And Patty Gioffre of dear little St. Anthony's, Waterford, was right on the mark:

"You knew from the beginning he was going to do what he wanted to do," Gioffre said, referring to the hoax that was the "speak out" sessions. "He's tearing the hearts out of all these little communities. As long as we can remain fiscally soluble and keep our outreach to the community, we should be able to stay open." AMEN and AMEN!!!

"For Immediate Release"

May 08, 2008

From The Council of Parishes of Southern New Jersey

In the fall of 2007, when the planning initiative to reduce the number of parishes in the Camden Diocese from the current 124 parishes to 66 parishes was announced, Bishop Galante stated, "We are saved as a people; we will plan as a people." However, parishes were denied the opportunity to present any alternatives which had not been reviewed by the Diocese Planning Commission in September 2007. Many parishioners felt they were also denied their rights to appeal the bishop's decision to merge and/or close their parishes.

Therefore, in May 2008, the Council of Parishes of Southern New Jersey was formed. The Council, currently representing approximately 15 parishes throughout the Diocese of Camden, opposes the unnecessary and harmful merge of our parishes and closure of our churches. In the Diocese of Camden, we do not have a current priest shortage and in the event of a future priest shortage, other options are available to allow our vibrant parishes to remain open. One example, initiated by Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Pitman, involved recruiting foreign priests. Congregation Superiors from the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate in India visited the parish and agreed to provide several priests to serve the population. The Bishop is familiar with this Priestly Congregation and had them serve the Beaumont, Texas Diocese where he was previously a Bishop. He currently has two priests from this Congregation serving in the Camden Diocese. He did not respond or comment on the worthiness of this proposal at the time it was presented in October 2007 and this option was subsequently denied. Other practical options have likewise been rejected without explanation.

Furthermore there are no serious financial difficulties in the Diocese or in the vast majority of the parishes within the Diocese. Rather the Bishop is determined to close our smaller parishes, which he has referred to as Wawas with crosses, because he prefers megachurches. However, there is no evidence that megachurches in any way will increase the percentage of Catholics who attend Mass. In fact, the opposite has been shown to be true.

Contact information for the Council of Parishes of Southern New Jersey:

Leah Vassallo email 856-692-0222
Nicholas Nastasi email 609-972-4570
Robert Walsh email 856-582-2192
Corine Robinson email 609-425-4324
Kevin Kelton 856-694-2748