For those of you who received the July 2nd Catholic Star Herald propaganda sheet (oops, we mean the Diocesan newspaper), you may have noticed an article on page 13 about the "Marriage Encounter" weekend. There's a little inset picture on the bottom with gray haired couples in matching turquoise t-shirts embracing each other. Needless to say, we're really glad we weren't there. Fr. Ed Namiotka, our current "pastor" at St. Mary's (at least officially), is really big into this Marriage Encounter stuff. Good to know he's got time for something, because he certainly doesn't seem to have any for us at St. Mary's! 

Make no mistake about it. St. Mary's parishioners continue to resist the merger and subsequent closure of their church. Why? Because merger is closure and we as a parish have a right to exist and to worship in peace.

Let us be clear: If our "convener" thinks that he is going to merge St. Mary's without significant inconvenience, he is mistaken. We are not like the frog in lukewarm water that is slowly boiled by turning up the heat just a little each time. We are not that stupid.

It has been argued that in order to somehow "prove" that we are all good little Catholics, we must "cooperate" by worshiping at the other churches in our "merger group." Well many St. Mary's parishioners do in fact  worship elsewhere from time to time or even regularly: St. Martin's or St. Anthony's in Hammonton, Mater Ecclesiae in Berlin, Sacred Heart or St. Isidore in Vineland, or even Mater Dei Nursing Home to name just a few. We recognize that the Catholic Church is, by definition, universal.

However, the agenda of the convener (and those pressuring him) is to get St. Mary's to merge with other churches and to eventually close. Therefore worshiping at these locations potentially undermines the cause of St. Mary's autonomy and right to existence. This would be nothing less than false unity: a unity at the expense of Truth and Justice, a unity at the expense of the continuation of the Faith, a unity at the expense of the existence of a parish, and a unity that tramples on the God-given right of the Catholic people to worship in a church they built and maintained without incident for over 80 years. This is not unity at all, but instead the unnecessary destruction of unity and of a true community of Faith.

For that reason, if necessary, it would be better to attend any services at any other Catholic church than those in our "merger group" or even to worship privately in the home on days that are not holy days of obligation. Furthermore, if we at St. Mary's have no desire to merge with these other churches, (and as we understand the sentiment is mutual,) we should not be forced to.

We are one Catholic community throughout the world, but that does not mean we should consolidate into fewer and fewer Catholic churches. May God have mercy on those in our diocese responsible for the persecution of the Church. They will one day have to answer for their actions and for the loss of souls that results.

(As a side note, it was stated in St. Mary's bulletin this week that small children should not attend the Easter Vigil. The Easter Vigil Mass, long as it may be, is intended for everyone, even "restless little children." How dare anyone state that a member of the Body of Christ should not be welcome at mass. For shame! How anti-family and anti-life to imply that only certain people are worthy to attend mass. What about those with disabilities or those who have conditions requiring them to move or occasionally make an utterance? Lord have mercy! What are we coming to? The mass is for all people and it is not always necessary to be able to hear a pin drop.)

Your response to the Wildwood Catholic fiasco has been incredible. Here is the response of just one of our readers:

"If Catholic high school enrollments are the sole criteria in determining which high school is closed, then look whose high school is next."

Paul VI High School, Haddonfield -- 1,192

Camden Catholic High School, Cherry Hill -- 844

Gloucester Catholic High School, Gloucester City -- 729

Holy Spirit High School, Absecon -- 749

Sacred Heart High School, Vineland -- 289

Saint Joseph High School, Hammonton -- 417

Wildwood Catholic High School, North Wildwood --194

What does the reader mean? Sacred Heart High School, with the next lowest enrollment according to the Diocese/Catholic Star Herald, is the school at which Fr. Edward Namiotka, St. Mary's current pastor, has been president of for some time. As a side note, this is my (Julie's) mother's alma mater, a school my family supported and helped to found.

In saying this I personally am not claiming that Catholic schools do not need improvement. It is my sense that they do. However Bishop Galante has chosen, rather than attempting to improve these schools, to instead abandon them and, by extension, their students and teachers, alumni and communities. Let's face it. It's easier to just close a school than it is to wrestle with real problems, to pray for God's guidance, and to seek and implement real solutions.

In closing smaller, community schools, is low enrollment intended to be a reflection on administrative flubs, reflective of intentional sabotage (as has been stated by some in the case of Wildwood), or is Galante's real agenda to simply bus all Catholic high school kids in South Jersey, no matter the distance, to his proposed megaschool in Gloucester County? Maybe he just likes everything to be big.

Link to the Catholic Star Herald Stats above

My parents were married at Sacred Heart Church in Vineland, the church my ancestors helped to build (both the original Sacred Heart as well as the "new" Sacred Heart, that is). My grandmother's side was from St. Mary's Malaga northern Italian "cousin," the East Vineland St. Mary's. (Apparently, they  used virtually identical blueprints for both St. Mary's churches.) Anyway, my mother went all through Sacred Heart grade school and high school way back when it was...well, back when there were habited religious sisters teaching there.

My mom died back in 2000 just after she turned 50 following a long, long, long battle with cancer, and my father has recently remarried. He let me borrow the wedding album awhile back to scan in these pictures of their wedding day. As you can see, they were clearly awesome! This was back in 1974, the height of blue eyeshadow, side burns, chunky heels, and general awesomeness all around.

On a serious note, it is nothing short of a complete and utter travesty that the bishop wants this beautiful church, every bit as beautiful and comparable in size as the cathedral in Camden, closed. It is totally unnecessary. This is the sort of thing that devastates people and drives them from the Faith in complete disgust, mistrust, disbelief. But hey, I guess it looks too...Catholic. Time to make way for the generic McMegachurch. Change the mass, change the church, change the religion. And hey, St. Isidore's has got plenty of land behind it...

We thought it would be a good time to remind people of the History section of the Save St. Mary's website. This history was written by a historian (an actual professional historian, now retired) and long time St. Mary's parishioner who now lives outside NJ.

It is interesting to note that we now live in a day and age where bigger is considered inherently better. One of the purposes of the destruction of our parishes and merger with others is that larger churches are considered by some to be superior. Why? Not sure. Our culture favors this model for most things these days, though, from stores to houses to cars. Churches are certainly not exempt. Part of it is human ego, we suppose. We can leave that to the sociologists.

In any case, historical perspective can lend a hand here. People tend to assume that once upon a time, there was a golden age of...fill in the blank. In the case of St. Mary's, there's the functioning assumption that once upon a time, St. Mary's was much larger. Well, that just isn't the case. Not really. St. Mary's has always been a tiny church and, when it became an actual parish, it became a tiny parish. I'll quote the history:

Completed in 1922, the new brick church could accommodate 150 worshipers.

If the people who built St. Mary's had needed a larger church, they would have built a larger church. And no, we cannot explain away its size by supposing there was more than one mass because there wasn't. Not until the 1950s was a second Sunday mass considered. The Saturday evening anticipated mass came even later.

Interestingly, the Bishop of Trenton (previous to the establishment of the Camden Diocese), Bishop Walsh,

voiced high praise for Monsignor James Bulfin, pastor of Sacred Heart...who directed the building of the church, and for the people of Malaga whose monetary sacrifices made it possible.

That was back at the opening mass in 1922, at which the bishop presided. Compare this to today's situation. We are now in a geographically smaller diocese with better transportation and an improved financial status. We have more parishioners today and more priests per capita, but our current bishop sees no need for St. Mary's or, for that matter, half the churches in the Diocese of Camden. Oh how far we have fallen in evangelical zeal!

St. Mary's didn't even have its own pastor or rectory until four decades later. So sharing a priest with another parish is nothing new to St. Mary's. In fact, it has been the case for about half its history, since it was a mission of Sacred Heart (Vineland) and then St. Rose of Lima (Newfield).

As for money, St. Mary's has always "lived" very frugally. Its less than affluent members sacrificed greatly to build the church and shortly thereafter experienced the Great Depression, the stress of which may have contributed to the death of its [shared] pastor, Fr. Jackson.

By the 1940s, St. Mary's had only about 100 families (compared to today's 250), although being farming families they were likely larger then the families most have today. Once the war and rationing were over, Fr. Naab (above), the pastor of St. Rose of Lima and St. Mary's, was able to obtain a car and visited every single family of St. Mary's. How many priests would do this today, even with better cars, better roads, lower gas mileage, and in a tiny parish?

It was also under Fr. Naab that our tiny parish commissioned its beautiful stained glass windows (right). Not shortsighted and despite the size of the parish, Fr. Naab knew how important a "church building," as so many refer to them today, is to a community. From the history:

Fr. Naab insisted on first-rate materials and workmanship. "The color in this glass will never fade," he said on numerous occasions.

In the 1950s a second mass was added and the church was enlarged. Yes, St. Mary's was once even smaller than it is today! In addition to enlarging the church, the organ and choir area were moved upstairs and a loft constructed. This added room for additional pews in the back.

In 1957 the land for the rectory was purchased, and finally in 1961 a third Sunday mass was added. (Saturday evening masses were unheard of previous to Vatican II.) This is also the year that St. Mary's became an independent parish (see photo top right). For almost a year, Fr. Zimmer, St. Mary's first pastor of its own, lived in the sacristy. And no, there was no bathroom in there just as there is no bathroom now. In spring 1962, the rectory was completed.

The religious education of its children was a primary and founding purpose of St. Mary's, but even in the 1980s, the all-time high of the CCD program peaked at only about 100 children. This year, even with the bishop's threat of closure hanging over our head and no nun volunteers as in the past (see photo above), we have around 60 students.

Our point? St. Mary's has never been big. It's always been small. We've shared priests and even had one live in the sacristy. Though our church has undergone many changes over the years, physically and otherwise, we must not fall into the trap of believing that because we are small today, we are somehow on a downward spiral. Nothing could be further from the truth.

What St. Mary's has that strengthens it is its small size! More people are always a welcome blessing, but a small parish enables us to know each other, and we like that. While some people may find larger parishes more to their liking, there ought to always be the option available to those who like a small church family. We're pretty uncomplicated at our church; we don't want anything big or fancy. We keep it simple at St. Mary's, and we think it's a blessing.

Interesting article. Read it here.

Quote (first few paragraphs):

VINELAND -- An expansion of Sacred Heart High School is necessary, but is at least another year or two away, the Rev. Edward Namiotka, school president, said.

School officials want to expand the building to better accommodate its 295 students and staff while also modernizing a facility that hasn't undergone any large-scale renovations in about 50 years, he said.

Money, though, is the main reason Namiotka cited for why Sacred Heart cannot proceed.

Namiotka estimates the project costs roughly $6 million -- about $2 million more than when the school first planned to expand a few years ago.

"It's prudent to wait and see before we run head strong into it, but we certainly want to do this," Namiotka said.

Below you'll see a picture slideshow from the procession, hay ride, talent show, bands, inflatables, food and games booths, and more.

Thank yous
(focusing on Day 2)

• A special thank you is in order for Joe Posiadlo for his construction of an amazing and beautiful bier for Our Lady (see photo below). We're sure it will be used for many years to come.

• While we're at it with the thank yous, we should make sure we thank both of Sunday's bands, Mr. Tujays (right and above) and Jukebox Review. Both were excellent and so much fun, too. Thanks to Mr. Tujays for donating your time and talent to the church. We were so impressed with both bands--please make sure you catch them if you can! Both of these great classic rock/oldies bands are those of members of our parish, Jim Wilson and Kevin Kelton.

• A big, gigantic thank you to Ollie and Corie from Plagido's Winery, Hammonton (right). We cannot begin to express all the complimentary feedback we received about your wines and sangria. In the words of one of our parishioners, "Now I know where I'm going to get my Christmas wine." Me too! (And Halloween wine, and Thanksgiving wine, and Easter wine, etc.) Please be sure and patronize this wonderful winery, open 7 days a week and owned by two of the very nicest people you'd ever want to meet. (Be sure to try the "Plagido's Choice.")
  

• We would be remiss if we neglected to mention all the many people who gave of their time and talents to make this weekend possible, from planning to making phone calls to soliciting donations to stapling adbooks to setting up tables to answering the phones during and leading up to the feast to manning the booths to dressing up as a clown (???)...you name it. We are sure we'll forget someone in this list, but thank you to Dee Posiadlo, Kathie Ramos, JV (right), Tim Trace, Diane Trace, Bill DiMatteo, Mike and Danny Vassallo, Nancy Pantaleo, and most of all to the wonderful, talented, and unassuming Leah Vassallo. Leah, you are awesome. (Leah you can stop blushing and look at the pictures now.) Thank you to EVERYONE who worked so hard for Our Lady and for our parish. Please forgive me if I have forgotten you, my mind is like a sieve sometimes.

Finally, thank you to Our Lady under whose constant protection we find ourselves. We give ourselves totally to you. Please pray to your Divine Son for us and for our parish's continued protection from the onslaughts of the devil.

By the way, I have not yet had time to touch up any of the photos so if there are any blurry or sideways ones, I apologize! Hopefully I will have some videos for you soon. If any of you have photos you'd like to submit, please feel free to send them to us. The same goes for anyone who'd like to make any comments about their experiences at this year's feast. It was a great success.


Created with flickr slideshow.

Since it's well-known, at least among people in Vineland, that Bishop Galante has long wanted to close the historic and beautiful Sacred Heart (roughly the size of the cathedral in Camden), which outrages many (myself included since this is the church of my ancestors), this is no great surprise. In fact, it's the oldest trick in the book. One way of messing with a group's identity is to remove its long-standing leader. While Fr. Amabile's mother is apparently sick, (may the Lord bless her,) that seems a very convenient thing for the Galante administration.

What's still so surprising is that a native Vinelander, Msgr. John Burton, would continue to work with Galante in achieving this end. Shame! (One wonders, is it all about getting ahead and making brownie points?)

His departure would not affect Galante's plan to cut 124 parishes in the diocese down to 68, Walton said. Sacred Heart Parish and St. Isidore the Farmer Parish on Magnolia Road will merge under the plan, with St. Isidore assuming primary worship duties.

It seems to be most people's assumption that since St. Isidore's on Magnolia has so much land, Galante plans to use it to create his gigantic Vineland, evangelical protestant-style megachurch on that spot. But I suppose a traditional and beautiful Catholic church, no matter the size or history, does not serve the bishop's purposes.

(Below are maps of St. Isidore's on top and Sacred heart on the bottom. If you'd like to examine the maps more closely just click on them.)

View Larger Map


View Larger Map

Besides all that, closing Sacred Heart would rip the soul out of what is left of downtown Vineland. What a way to build "community" and help the less fortunate--to move the main Vineland parish to the burbs.

It would seem appropriate at this time to thank the Augustinian Order, in all seriousness and sincerity, for helping us in South Jersey by sending us priests for all these years. They have been a great blessing, and continue to to be, even, as Fr. Marty Smith referred to them, as "rent-a-priests" when parishes are in a pinch. We thank you!

The article is below. You may also read Daily Journal article by clicking here.

Sacred Heart pastor moving on to N.Y. post

By KRISTI FUNDERBURK • Staff Writer • August 11, 2009

These churches were built by our people so that they could be free, and so that we could be free, too.

At St. Mary's we have a truly united Catholic community. We love our church and have no desire to see it needlessly destroyed by those without God's will--not to mention history--in mind. The Catholic families who established St. Mary's long, long ago were primarily hard working, Southern Italian farming families. They didn't have much money. But they scrimped and saved what they had to give us the beautiful church we have today.

One of our parishioners' ancestors even took a horse and carriage all the way down to Atlantic City to obtain bricks and construction materials for the church. Can you imagine how long a trip that was back in those days? (Photo below: donor's list)

My own family did not help establish St. Mary's Malaga. My family comes from Sacred Heart in Vineland and St. Mary's (Union Rd, see photo below), East Vineland. My family on both sides came from the same small farming village near Genoa in Northern Italy. Neither family knew each other until they came to Vineland, both by way of New York City. I grew up hearing all the stories of hardships they had encountered.

My ancestors were so poor they sold paper flowers on the streets of New York. My great grandmother was a janitor in a school established by Mother Cabrini (ora pro nobis!) and she considered it a great privilege just to mop the floors upon which the great saint had once walked. Mother Cabrini was, of course, sent to the United States specifically to help the poor Italians in their struggles to make better lives for themselves in the New World. 

In addition to the hardships of poverty, they were badly persecuted, primarily by the Irish Catholics. What I always found ironic about this, growing up, was that one group of Catholics, not terribly long in this country themselves, would turn around and treat so horribly another group of Catholics. But the human memory is short, it seems. In any case, my family could not worship in the Irish Catholic church because they were unwelcome there.

One of my great grandmothers came to Vineland as a child as a "Fresh Air Kid." The Fresh Air Fund, which still exists, takes city kids and gives them some summer fun in the country. My great grandmother vowed that when she grew up she would move to Vineland. And that's what she did. Both sides of the family moved to Vineland and had big farms on which they raised, among other things, chickens, which my grandfather hated. (He said they were very stupid animals and did not even like to eat them. On the right is my great grandfather, Angelo.)

Apparently, on my grandfather's side at least, way back during Prohibition they did some running of bootleg liquor back and forth from NYC until it got "too dangerous." My grandfather's family also had a printing business in Vineland, which was once located on West Avenue, and later in the Industrial Park, called DeMarchi Printing. Although my grandfather dropped out of school by about sixth grade (he hated school as well as chickens), he was quite the businessman and farmer/gardener. He took over the family printing business, grew it, and much later on sold it as it got too big for him.

My grandmother was the first to attend college in our family. She went to Glassboro, although I believe it was called the "Normal School" at that time. She taught in a one-room schoolhouse in East Vineland, and I believe later at the school on Main and Oak in Vineland (see photo left). My grandparents worked very hard, were not extravagant, were nothing if not generous, and mended their clothing until it was unmendable. The money they had went to their church, their community, their family, and to charity. I owe them everything.

It was recently commented in the St. Mary's parish bulletin that we should "always cherish--and not take for granted--the many freedoms that we enjoy in this country." How ironic that after all those years of hardship and struggle to worship in peace in their own churches, that our families should once again find themselves persecuted by those who are part of the same Catholic Faith. Our families worked so hard to give us not just our Faith, but our Faith made tangible. By their own blood and sweat, they gave us churches to worship in--that was their gift to us. We do not take our freedom to worship in those churches for granted. Our religious freedom, in a very literal sense, was bought and paid for by our ancestors. May we once again have the true freedom that is the promise of this country.


Above photos: My mother Doris in her First Holy Communion dress, my grandmother Laura on the farm (she's on the far right), and a relative farming shot.

We have been asked quite frequently of late "what is going on" with Fr. Romanowski. He is officially retired and is now residing at his house in Elm (near Hammonton). Hopefully he'll be getting some much deserved rest, but knowing Fr. Romanowski, he'll be busy as ever!

It is our understanding that he will be returning to St. Mary's for the traditional Latin mass. In addition, he will be helping to fill in over at Mater Ecclesiae in Berlin (the traditional Roman Rite mission church in the Diocese of Camden) on a temporary basis.

We at St. Mary's Shrine Parish would like to thank Fr. Romanowski with all of our hearts for his dedication to the Church and to our church in particular. Now would be a very good time to mention just a few of the things that Fr. Romanowski has done for our little parish.

When Fr. Romanowski first came, the lot adjacent to the rectory was just that--an empty lot. The Rosary Garden was his idea. Many parishioners stepped up to the plate, with the grace of God of course, to help make that idea into a reality.

• Father has been a steadfast supporter and participant in the Legion of Mary. We now have two adult Praesidia (groups) as well as the Junior Praesidium.
• He reinstated the Holy Name Society that had been discontinued by a previous pastor.
  
• Father is the spiritual director for the Promoters of the Blessed Sacrament.
• Of course it was Fr. Romanowski who instituted the two-and-a-half (and now three days) of Eucharistic Adoration at St. Mary's. This is no small task for so small a parish, but there is no shortage of graces received!
• We have the traditional Latin mass at our parish now.
• Father has never been known to turn away a soul in need of help, and has always been available for the sacrament of Confession. In a time when other churches have seen a decline in Confession, I know that I personally have been around when Fr. Romanowski has commented about the abundance of Confessions heard at St. Mary's--and not just at the appointed times, either. Even when he was tired after a long day, Father has heard my Confession. I know I don't need to tell you that not all priests are as accessible as this.
• Father has made the Divine Mercy Chaplet a post-mass tradition at St. Mary's.
• He has instituted countless devotions, novenas, special prayers, and has been vigilant in praying for certain special intentions (for example, pro-life, reverence at mass, an increase in attendance at mass, etc.).
• Father is also extremely committed to visiting the sick and homebound.
• He also serves the spiritual needs of the Catholics at the Veteran's Home in Vineland.

On a personal level, those of us who know Fr. Romanowski--myself included--deeply appreciate not only his sincerity but most especially the fact that we never have to doubt his spiritual counsel. He teaches only what Holy Mother Church teaches. Good spiritual guidance is worth more than all the gold in the world.

We at St. Mary's cannot even begin to thank Fr. Romanowski for all he's done for us over the past twelve years. Now our task is to live up to all he's given us, and never take for granted the wonderful parish community he has helped to forge.

I have been wanting to publish this prayer on Save St. Mary's for a year now but didn't know where to find it. I finally learned today that it is in a prayer book that has been sitting on my shelf at home the whole time. The prayer book is not one that I personally have used all that often thus far. It was given to me by a very kind man and Knight of Columbus, a member of the Promoters of the Blessed Sacrament, about a year ago. It is the popular "Pieta" prayerbook published by the "MLOR" (Miraculous Lady of Roses) group. You can obtain this prayerbook at your local Catholic bookstore (locally you can get it at The Littlest Angel on Landis Avenue across from Sacred Heart Church in Vineland) or by calling MLOR at 269-731-4490.

I am told that this is a very powerful prayer. In the book it says, "Say for nine consecutive mornings for anything you may desire. It has seldom been known to fail." So it may also be used as a novena. Following the prayer it gives a brief history:

This prayer was found in the fiftieth year of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In the 1500s it was sent by the pope to Emperor Charles when he was going into battle. Whoever reads this prayer or hears it or carries it will never die a sudden death, nor be drowned, nor will poison take effect on them. They will not fall into the hands of the enemy nor be burned in any fire, nor will they be defeated in battle. Make this prayer known everywhere. -Imprimatur Most Rev. Geourge W. Ahr, Bishop of Trenton

Wow, those are some very interesting promises. Considering the "poisons" with which the Catholic Christian faithful are now being fed and the battle we face, I think this is a prayer of which we should avail ourselves!

Coincidentally we are currently praying a novena to St. Joseph in our family--not this particular one, but now that I have it, we will pray this one. The reason I wanted to post this prayer is because it is very popular at St. Mary's Malaga. By "popular" I don't mean "trendy" or "superficial." I mean that there is a deeply personal, widespread devotion to St. Josph at St. Mary's, the likes of which I have not seen before. This prayer is prayed publicly after Mass, as part of Rosary prayers, after the Divine Mercy Chaplet, at special events and feasts, etc. We implore St. Joseph's powerful intercession as the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Foster Father of Jesus, as well as protector of the Universal Church to protect our own little corner of the Universal Church, St. Mary's. In this way, St. Joseph is so very dear to our hearts.

O St. Joseph whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the Throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires. O St. Joseph do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your Heavenly power I may offer my Thanksgiving and Homage to the most Loving of Fathers. O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press him in my name and kiss his fine Head for me, and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for us. Amen.

St. Joseph, ora pro nobis!

Massive turnout last night at St. Nicholas Parish meeting:

EGG HARBOR CITY- ...about 140 parishioners of St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Church attended a meeting Tuesday night at the Knights of Columbus Hall with hopes of saving their parish.

Read Press of Atlantic City article here

See NJ Churchscape brief piece on historic St. Nick's here.


Overall an excellent job by Rob Spahr, Press writer, with the exception of this misleading information (emphasis ours):

intentions...to cut the number of parishes in the Camden Diocese nearly in half after years of fact finding, analysis and public discussion sessions uncovered a pressing need for downsizing.

Let it be clear: no scientifically reliable facts were found, nor were voices of the faithful listened to in their "years of...public discussions." No one said, "Gee let's close our church because we're not 'vibrant' enough." We only wish the truth about Bishop Galante's wheelings and dealings would be more well known by reminding the public, "After the merger announcement Bishop Galante was found to be financially involved with con artist Raffaello Follieri, now serving a prison sentence, as well as other real estate schemes. Many in the diocese question the true motives for the merger scheme..."

Additionally, too much space was given to Andy Walton, diocesan spinner, umm, I mean "PR guy." Who speaks for the faithful of the diocese? It is sad when a bishop has vested interests for which he must hire a public relations man from outside the state appear less insidious. Isn't that just like a politician? And besides, what ever happened to letting your yea be yea and your no, no? Shouldn't the words of any Christian, particularly a bishop, be clear as crystal and not so vague as to warrant wide interpretation? "Enter ye at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat." (So just in case any of you were in doubt about where St. Mary's and the Council of Parishes stand on the Galante-Vollmer Merge & Close agenda, we're against it.)
 
Nevertheless the Press coverage is laudable and we were very happy to see them cover a topic so dear to so many in South Jersey. We were glad to see the Press reveal the true origin of Galante's "priest shortage," namely, himself. Quote:

The parish already has lost its catechism classes and its resident priest was not replaced after he left in June to serve as an Army chaplain in Europe. It was unclear who will take over once the merger is complete.

Sadly, St. Nick's is far from the only priest in the diocese sent off by Galante to the military chaplaincy in the last year.

And of course, St. Nick's is yet another historic NJ church built with the blood, sweat, tears, and hard-earned money of its parishioners over the years, may they rest in peace!

"It's like losing a part of the family," Terri Cantz, 57, of Egg Harbor City, said of the parish being stripped of services. "My ancestors literally laid the bricks that helped build St. Nicholas and my grandchildren were the fifth generation from my family to attend the St. Nicholas school. This parish is a piece of our upbringing, it's a piece of our character and it deserves to stay here."

Like other parishes reconfiguration schemes in the diocese (Bridgeton, Vineland, etc.), Bishop Galante wishes to promote a segregation scheme at St. Nicholas. It is a shame that in this day and age, a bishop would promote the segregation of large numbers of our Spanish speaking brothers and sisters in Christ. Meanwhile, folks at St. Nick's are not only fighting to keep their parish open, but to remain integrated. Said Jim McGeary,

And the Hispanic parishioners who attend St. Nick's will not be able to maintain the (necessary attendance levels) on their own. You need everyone.

That's the bottom line, isn't it? We are the body of Christ, and in the body, you cannot exclude one part from the other. We need each other.

The will of God is what needs to be heeded at all times. The question remains in our minds, does Bishop Galante care what God wants? We are one body, and the church segregation plans tend to unnecessarily divide us.

But all these things one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one according as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members; and all the members of the body, whereas they are many, yet are one body, so also is Christ. For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free; and in one Spirit we have all been made to drink. For the body also is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were the eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God hath set the members every one of them in the body as it hath pleased him. And if they all were one member, where would be the body? But now there are many members indeed, yet one body...God hath tempered the body together, giving to that which wanted the more abundant honour, That there might be no schism in the body; but the members might be mutually careful one for another. And if one member suffer any thing, all the members suffer with it; or if one member glory, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members of member. 1Corinthians 12:11-27

And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors, For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Until we all meet into the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ; That henceforth we be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive. But doing the truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in him who is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body, being compacted and fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to the operation in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in charity. (Ephesians 4:11-16)

May God richly bless St. Nick's for their faithfulness to God and their perseverance in the Truth. May none of us be fooled by the "cunning craftiness" of the devil.

Not so long ago, we were informed that the St. Padre Pio Shrine over in Landisville, which is a shrine erected on family property as an act of devotion by private citizens and not by the diocese, was turned over to the Diocese of Camden.


We do not have the details of the transaction, but have been aware for some time that Bishop Galante and Company have been after this property for awhile.


View Larger Map

As many of you are probably aware, lay Catholics have been erecting shrines, altars, and even chapels on their farms, in their homes, in their yards, on roadways, and elsewhere as long as the Catholic Church has existed. These private devotional areas have not typically been under the purview of the Church. This is nothing new. (link, link, link, link, great link)

Continuing in this ancient tradition, we could walk or drive down a residential street in just about any town in America and find statues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Blessed Mother, St. Therese of the Child Jesus, St. Jude, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony of Padua, heavenly angels, you name it.


In the case of my own neighbors, they have a shrine on a small hill in honor of St. Jude. This little shrine in their backyard was erected in thanksgiving. When the mother (and family matriarch) got sick with cancer, one of her daughters prayed for the intercession of St. Jude, saint of hopeless causes, in the hope of a cure. When the mother got well, seemingly miraculously, the daughter kept her promise to St. Jude that she would erect a shrine to his honor.


Here's another interesting little story about this family. The same daughter, whose first name is Rita, was thus named in thanksgiving to St. Rita. While fighting in World War II, her father was saved from gunshot by crouching behind a statue of St. Rita. He promised that if ever he had a daughter, she would have the honor of receiving this saint's blessed name.

When we thought of privately constructed shrines, strangely enough, what came to our minds was the "Chapel of Peace" located in Storybook Land in EHT. You may remember the 18 by 20 foot "Chapel of Peace" there and never gave it a second thought.
 

It was originally located in Vineland. It was built on private property (a farm) in 1885 by eighteen-year-old Andrew Cresci as a gift to his parents. It has a pipe organ inside, lovely stained glass windows, and mass was said there regularly.


According to the posted history, this chapel was never diocesan property. Eventually the chapel, along with a couple other small, historical buildings, was relocated to Storybook Land.
 

Undoubtedly many of you are familiar with other shrines and chapels whose stories are similar.

The point is, why is it that because a layperson or group of laypersons erects a shrine on private property, our current bishop feels that he has the right to it? Are all things Catholic now subject to "eminent domain?" Look out if your property is in a particularly desirable area. Worse still if he sees it as prime territory for one of his Quatholic McMegaChurches.

A question remains in our minds: If the elderly woman who helped build the Padre Pio Shrine had instead decided to open a pizza place, would Bishop Galante and Company have felt as easy approaching her for the "donation" of her property? Probably not.

Given the abundance of real estate wheelings and dealings and corporate ventures in which the Diocese of Camden has gotten itself involved, it seems that Galante and Company are now in the business of gobbling up not only churches but also private property to which they believe they have a right. This increasing corporatization of the Church leaves us with a very uneasy feeling. We are to be the Pilgrim Church on Earth, in the world and not of it. But perhaps those sentiments need only apply to the laity.

This past Sunday the Gloucester County Times published a piece on the Diocesan mergers.  Our favorite spokesperson, Andy Walton, was interviewed. 

"The priest conveners and core teams will begin meeting monthly in January to begin work directly involved in preparing the parishes. The bishop has announced his intentions, but there won't be mergers until the core teams and conveners tell the bishop of the parishes' readiness and he issues a decree formally establishing that new parish."

We don't place much confidence in what the diocese says, but for what it's worth, make sure your core team members know how you feel about the merger, because they (theoretically at least) will be the ones who decide when to pull the plug.

Walton said that some parishes will be able to come together more quickly, especially those who wish to expedite the process and have been working together since the announcement last spring.

Click here to see GCT article.  It also ran in the Salem Sunbeam on Monday.  They also interview Leah, who explains the position of the Council of Parishes.

You know, I am all about merging those parishes that wish to be merged and closing those churches that wish to be closed.  I am skeptical that there are many in this category, but for those that are, by all means, knock yourselves out.  But don't merge those parishes that do not wish to be merged!  After a few years, if the mergers of the parishes that want to be merged are in fact successful, there would surely not be so much resistance to other mergers.  But so far, that hasn't happened. 

I've talked to people from the three previous mergers in the Diocese of Camden (St. Michael and Our Lady of Victories in Minotola/Landisville, St. Mary's and Our Lady of Pompeii in Vineland, and Sacred Heart and St. Lucy in Cedarbrook/Blue Anchor) and all have said that the mergers were horrible and are rough even now, years later.  One used the expression that "there was blood in the streets."  And these were mergers under ideal circumstances - where the both churches were staying open ("primary worship sites") and the communities were already close and had much in common.

Imagine how much worse it would be for new proposed mergers, where churches are closing and the parishes sometimes have little in common.  For instance, the St. Mary's (Malaga), St. Rose (Newfield), Queen of the Angels (Minotola and Landisville) and Our Lady of the Lakes (Collings Lakes) merger spans parts of at least four (Gloucester, Atlantic, Salem, Cumberland), and I believe five counties (also Camden), and around a dozen or so municipalities.  Children from this proposed parish would attend high schools from Woodstown to Hammonton, and Vineland to Williamstown (plus Buena, Delsea, Schalick, and others).  In fact, according to Google maps, the travel time from one end of the proposed new parish to the other is around 30 minutes.  It's clear that nobody thought this out intelligently.  And this is just one of many, many examples of failures of the program/process. 

Also, as a note, even though all six churches of the mergers from a few years ago stayed open, at least two will now be closing in this round of mergers.  So don't feel secure in your primary or secondary worship site status.  It can and will change in the next round of mergers, which has already been alluded to by Fr. Gregorio in an August letter to the editor of the Cape May County Herald:

Again if you were the bishop, and you knew that the average diocesan priest today is 64, and that only 12 men are in all stages of seminary theological training, and that many times that will retire or die by 2015, what would you do? What will the average age be in 2015? By then, the bishop will be forced to do another, even more painful consolidation. Fair-minded people are saying this bishop had the courage to do what two or three previous bishops should have done since they had the same demographics.

No, Fr. Gregorio, fair-minded people are saying maybe the three previous Bishops were right and it is Galante who is mistaken.  I never appreciated DiMarzio so much as I do now.

Please email us at info@savestmarys.net if you would like your name added to the petition. Thank you and God bless you!

I always made an effort to stress that the parish is not an accidental collection of Christians who happen tolive in the same neighborhood...Through careful listening to the word of Scripture and sound instruction in the faith they are enabled to experience their lives, and the life of the parish, as a dynamic sharing in the history of salvation. That experience, in turn, becomes a powerful motive for evangelization.
                                                                        -Pope John Paul II (1998)

We, the undersigned, strenuously object to the closing and merging of St. Mary's in Malaga and all other vibrant, viable parishes within the Diocese of Camden. In addition to providing the Sacraments and fostering out spiritual growth, our parishes have many active groups providing spiritual and material assistance to those in need in our communities. Closing and merging parishes in our neighborhoods is not only unnecessary and devastating to the parishioners, but it is also detrimental to many communities within the Diocese of Camden. Furthermore, we vigorously oppose the sale and future use of church properties for anything but that for which they were originally intended--the Catholic Christian worship of God. We pray you will reconsider your actions and reverse this decision.

                                                               NAME                                           TOWN

1	Al DeValerio	Newfield
2	Alberta Winkler	N. Vineland
3	Alex Benarba	Clayton
4	Alexia Farside	Vineland
5	Alexis Ramos	Malaga
6	Alice Obert	Clayton
7	Alicia Rivera	Clayton
8	Allen Kerski	Clayton
9	Allison Sieminski	Glassboro
10	Alysha Chambers	Elmer
11	Amanda Bosco	Malaga
12	Amanda Kelleher	Newfield
13	Amanda Rippel	Frankinville
14	Amee Muller	Clayton
15	Amy Chamberlin	Franklinville
16	Amy Ryan	Clayton
17	Ana Sales	Williamstown
18	Andrea Craig	Clayton
19	Andrea Marcellina	Williamstown
20	Andrew E. Kilroy	Malaga
21	Andrew J. Moore	Clayton
22	Andrew J. Moore, Sr.	Clayton
23	Andrew Kasper	Clayton
24	Andrew Nelson	Clayton
25	Andrew Schifano	Colts Neck
26	Andrew Vassallo	Newfield
27	Angel DeMaro	Glassboro
28	Angel Gaull	Clayton
29	Angel Lugo	Clayton
30	Angela Gaull	Clayton
31	Angela Ledzinski	Clayton
32	Angelina Rutkowski	Elm
33	Ann Waldman	Clayton
34	Anna Chamberlin	Franklinville
35	Anna Mackewick	Clayton
36	Anne Bauer	Clayton
37	Anne Hercy	Williamstown
38	Anne Teta	Clayton
39	Annette Rumph	Clayton
40	Annie Brunner	Clayton
41	Anthony DelPalazzo	Voorhees
42	Anthony M. Colache	Williamstown
43	Anthony Rizzo	Newfield
44	Anthony Roman	Franklinville
45	Anthony Yoworsky	Clayton
46	Anthony Ramos	Malaga
47	Antoinette Boylan	Clayton
48	Aracelis Acosta	Clayton
49	Ashley Lehman	Franklinville
50	Ashley Preine	Franklinville
51	B.T. Lilimore	Pittsgrove
52	Barb Liescko	Pittsgrove
53	Barbara Ann McCann	Pittsgrove
54	Barbara Carrigan	Williamstown
55	Barbara DeValerio	Newfield
56	Barbara Sage	Clayton
57	Benancio Espinal	Clayton
58	Bernie Blatt	Forest Grove
59	Betty Fischer	Malaga
60	Beverly Stiner	Clayton
61	Bill Boeckle	Glassboro
62	Bill Cipollone	Malaga
63	Bill Dalessandro	Malaga
64	Bill Laner	Franklinville
65	Bill Roberts	Clayton
66	Billy Cipollone	Malaga
67	Bob Raymond	Clayton
68	Brad Pantaleo	Malaga
69	Bradley Smith	Franklinville
70	Brandon Maynor	Millville
71	Brendan Kirby	Clayton
72	Brian Dean	Monroeville
73	Brian Dtari	Clayton
74	Brian Schifano	Colts Neck
75	Brittney Shaw	Clayton
76	Bryan Burkert	Franklinville
77	Buddy Craig	Franklinville
78	C. Daugherty	Malaga
79	Caitlin Brandon	Mantua
80	Cara Esposito	Clayton
81	Carleigh Gallardo	Pittsgrove
82	Carlo Profico	Clayton
83	Carmella Castelli	Malaga
84	Carole Trace	Malaga
85	Carolyn H. Gant	Franklinville
86	Casey Flory	Clayton
87	Cathy Culle	Clayton
88	Cecelia Trace	Malaga
89	Charles Chamberlin	Franklinville
90	Charles Schifano	Colts Neck
91	Charles Zanetich	Clayton
92	Charlie Bosco	Malaga
93	Chelsea Cossaboon	Newfield
94	Cherisse Watson	Clayton
95	Cheryl O'Hara	Clayton
96	Chris Colache	Williamstown
97	Chris Godfrey	Pitman
98	Christopher C. Sever	Clayton
99	Christopher Russell	Clayton
100	Christopher Senor	Franklinville
101	Chuck Esposito	Clayton
102	Chuck Grinnell	Clayton
103	Cindy Burgess	Franklinville
104	Cletus S. Beckel	Pittsgrove
105	Clifford Taylor	Malaga
106	Colleen Kohn	Clayton
107	Confesora Caban	Clayton
108	Corie Brandon	Mantua
109	Courtney McHale	Mullica Hill
110	Cynthia Merckx	Malaga
111	Cynthia Trasferini	Malaga
112	Cynthia Hetzler	Sewell
113	D.L. Marion	Turnersville
114	Dakoda Maynor	Millville
115	Damien Colache	Clayton
116	Dan Sommeling	Clayton
117	Dan Vassallo	Malaga
118	Danali Young	Clayton
119	Daniel Oyola	Clayton
120	Daniel Ramos	Malaga
121	Danielle Chamberlin	Clayton
122	Danielle McCord	Clayton
123	Danielle Pantaleo	Malaga
124	Danny Farside	Vineland
125	Dante Colache	Williamstown
126	Dave O'Brien	Pittsgrove
127	David Dowonta	Clayton
128	David Hughes	Clayton
129	Dawn M. Meyers	Clayton
130	Deb Ragone	Clayton
131	Debbie Iuliucci	Malaga
132	Debbie Sauer	Clayton
133	Deborah Luchay	Mullica Hill
134	Deborah Lugo	Clayton
135	Deborah Zanetich	Clayton
136	Debra A. Dougherty	Newfield
137	Denise Battle	Clayton
138	Denise Brandon	Mantua
139	Denise Miller	Clayton
140	Denise Morton	Clayton
141	Denise Shaw	Clayton
142	Dennis Zanetich	Clayton
143	Derek Flory	Clayton
144	Diane Hitzelberger	Clayton
145	Diane Trace	Malaga
146	Diane Vassallo	Newfield
147	Dick Hughes	Clayton
148	Dino Atencio	Clayton
149	Dino DiCastelano	Franklinville
150	Dolores Lafferty	Malaga
151	Dolores Pfeuffer	Erial
152	Dolores Podsiadlo	Elmer
153	Dom DiPetro	Glassboro
154	Domenic Russo	Clayton
155	Domenica Trace	Malaga
156	Donald Keppen	Clayton
157	Donna Andrea	Clayton
158	Donna Kirby	Clayton
159	Donna Wilson	Malaga
160	Doris DeMatteo	Malaga
161	Doris Ruppel	Malaga
162	Dorothea Bosco	Clayton
163	Dorothy Erwin	Clayton
164	Dorothy Horady	Franklinville
165	Doug Ramos	Malaga
166	E.T. Selinger	Clayton
167	Earl L. Prous	Williamstown
168	Edward Mackewick	Clayton
169	Edward Wisowaty	Clayton
170	Eileen Scholl	Franklinville
171	Eleanor Donato	Vineland
172	Elesio Vianlargo	Clayton
173	Emil Lettica	Clayton
174	Emilie O'Hara	Clayton
175	Emily Atkinson	Sicklerville
176	Enrique Caban	Clayton
177	Eric Barrett	Clayton
178	Erika Zaruba	Franklinville
179	Ethel A. Pozzi	Clayton
180	Ethel DeFeo	Malaga
181	Eugene Melnyk	Franklinville
182	Evelyn M. Acevedo	Vineland
183	Feyance Previtt	Clayton
184	Fr. Jerome Romanowski	Malaga
185	Fran Emmons	Franklinville
186	Fran Schultz	Malaga
187	Fran Zeilman	Malaga
188	Francine Repice	Malaga
189	Francis Kelley Heiland	Hammonton
190	Frank DiCicco	Clayton
191	Frank Obert	Clayton
192	Frank Richer	Newfield
193	Franny Papiano	Malaga
194	Fred Ronzo	Williamstown
195	Frederick H. Blauth	Vineland
196	G. E. Brusizaker	Clayton
197	G. J. Swanson	Clayton
198	G. T. Swanson	Clayton
199	Gabrielle Preine	Mullica Hill
200	Gail Perino	Malaga
201	Gary Eastlack	Clayton
202	Gary Smith	Franklinville
203	Gary Zanetich	Clayton
204	Gemma Vassallo	Newfield
205	Gene Melnik	Bluebell
206	George Steinfield	Newfield
207	Georgetta Bucci-Bruno	Newfield
208	Gina Bosco	Malaga
209	Gina Trasferini	Malaga
210	Glemin Fabey	Clayton
211	Glen Ruppel	Franklinville
212	Glen Scott Ruppel, Sr.	Franklinville
213	Glenn D. Moore	Clayton
214	Glenn O'Brien	Pitman
215	Grace Lawrence	Clayton
216	Grace Carlson	Mt. Ephraim
217	Greg Duva	Hammonton
218	Gregory Profico	Clayton
219	Gregory Sentz	Newfield
220	Haley Colache	Clayton
221	Hannah Flory	Clayton
222	Harold Sims	Malaga
223	Harry McGruray	Franklinville
224	Helen Durham	Clayton
225	Helen Kilroy	Malaga
226	Helen O'Hara	Clayton
227	Herb Pfeuffer	Erial
228	Holly A. Flory	Clayton
229	Holly Fabey	Clayton
230	Iesha Torreibeu	Clayton
231	Irene Mick	Franklinville
232	Isabel Furtan	Clayton
233	J. Jess	Franklinville
234	J. Wengert, Sr.	Franklinville
235	J.J. Ruppel, Sr.	Malaga
236	Jac-lyn Zeilman	Malaga
237	Jacob Keppen	Clayton
238	Jacqueline Hetzler	Sewell
239	Jake Baluch	Clayton
240	Jake Muller	Clayton
241	James A. Castrelli, Jr.	Vineland
242	James Castrelli	Vineland
243	James Chamberlin	Franklinville
244	James Kelleher	Newfield
245	James Sieminski	Glassboro
246	Jamie Smith	Clayton
247	Jane Bruno	Clayton
248	Janet Walker	Bridgeton
249	Janet Webekind	Newfield
250	Janice Bosco Tacka	Palmyra, PA
251	Janit Peilher	Vineland
252	Jared Pennisi	Sewell
253	Jason Lapin	Clayton
254	Jason Lipsett	Clayton
255	Jayme Zeilman	Malaga
256	Jean R. Liberto	Blue Anchor
257	Jean Wacker	Clayton
258	Jennifer Cipollone	Malaga
259	Jennifer Hetzler	Newfield
260	Jennifer Olsen	Clayton
261	Jennifer Rowedda	Clayton
262	Jerry DiCicco	Clayton
263	Jerry Velazquez	Newfield
264	Jessica Eastlack	Clayton
265	Jessica Kasper	Clayton
266	Jessica Kelleher	Newfield
267	Jessica Lincoln	Clayton
268	Jessica Parker	Malaga
269	Jessica Zeilman	Malaga
270	Jewel Sauder	Clayton
271	Jill Sommeling	Clayton
272	Jillian Fabey	Clayton
273	Jim Brown	Clayton
274	Jim Waterman	Mullica Hill
275	Joan Carrigan	Williamstown
276	Joan Goodwin	Williamstown
277	Joan Stone	Malaga
278	Joan Wokveck	Clayton
279	Jo-Ann Annie Zeilman	Malaga
280	JoAnn Betz	Vineland
281	Joann Halg	Pittsgrove
282	Joann Laner	Franklinville
283	JoAnn Mills	Malaga
284	Joann Young	Clayton
285	Jo-Ann Zeilman	Malaga
286	Joanna Vassallo	Newfield
287	Joanne Canken	Clayton
288	Joanne Esposito	Clayton
289	Joanne Ryan	Clayton
290	Jocelenn Zaya	Vineland
291	Jody Nelson	Clayton
292	Joe Bruno	Clayton
293	Joe Podsiadlo	Elmer
294	Joe Revelas	Swedesboro
295	Joe Sansalone	Malaga
296	Joe Young	Clayton
297	Joey Russo	Clayton
298	Johamil Salcedo	Clayton
299	Jo-hanna Zeilman	Malaga
300	John Bryozowski	Malaga
301	John Gravenor	Malaga
302	John Griffis	Clayton
303	John Hetzler	Sewell
304	John Jakymczuk	Malaga
305	John Morton	Clayton
306	John Sarill	Clayton
307	John Shaw	Clayton
308	John Tiffany	Clayton
309	John Trovati	Clayton
310	John-Anthony Hetzler	Sewell
311	Jon Lawrence	Clayton
312	Jonathan Shaw	Clayton
313	Jos. U. Dorys	Newfield
314	Jose Del Carmen Espinal	Clayton
315	Joseph Coleman	Clayton
316	Joseph Kelton	Malaga
317	Joseph Nardalli	Franklinville
318	Joseph P. Moffa	Malaga
319	Joseph Sparks	Mullica Hill
320	Josh Griffis	Clayton
321	Josh Parker	Malaga
322	Joshua DeQueter	Clayton
323	Joshua Vassallo	Alloway
324	Juan Oyola	Clayton
325	Juanda Fernandez	Clayton
326	Judith Pidgeon	Wilmington, DE
327	Judith Preine	Pittsgrove
328	Julia Hetzler	Sewell
329	Julia Roman	Clayton
330	Julia Trovati	Clayton
331	Juliana Sieminski	Glassboro
332	Julie DeMarchi Heiland	Hammonton
333	Julie Kirk	Clayton
334	Julie Lincoln	Clayton
335	June Cairone	Malaga
336	Justin Shaw	Clayton
337	Karen DeFrank	Clayton
338	Kat Roberts	Clayton
339	Kathie J. Ramos	Malaga
340	Kathleen Castelli	Vineland
341	Kathy DiStefano	Sicklerville
342	Kathy Mensinger	Franklinville
343	Katie Griffis	Clayton
344	Kellie Kasper	Clayton
345	Kenneth Zanetich	Clayton
346	Kevin Clinch	Franklinville
347	Kevin Kelton	Malaga
348	Kevin Lapin	Clayton
349	Kevin Pain	Clayton
350	Kristin Battestella	Franklin Township
351	L. M. Swanson	Clayton
352	Lance Knisely	Malaga
353	Lane McCord	Clayton
354	Larry Geltzer	Margate
355	Larry Storniola	Franklinville
356	Laura Camma-Resino	Williamstown
357	Laurel Fabey	Clayton
358	Laurie Lettica	Clayton
359	Leah Vassallo	Malaga
360	Len DeFrank	Clayton
361	Len Lapin	Clayton
362	Len Sarill	Clayton
363	Leonard Goodwin	Williamstown
364	Lesley Barrett	Clayton
365	Leslie McFall	Franklinville
366	Lily Kirby	Clayton
367	Linda Bryan	Clayton
368	Linda Persia	Newfield
369	Lisa Bekeshka	Monroeville
370	Lisa Eastlack	Clayton
371	Lisa Lugo	Clayton
372	Lisa Sauber	Clayton
373	Liz Ruggerie	Clayton
374	Loralie Kasper	Clayton
375	Lorenzo	Haddonfield
376	Loretta DiMeo	Franklinville
377	Lorraine Clapp	Clayton
378	Lou Anne Hughes	Clayton
379	Lou Brown	Clayton
380	Lou Kohn	Clayton
381	Lou Kohn, Jr.	Clayton
382	Lou Sgorlon	Vineland
383	Louis Cairone	Malaga
384	Louis Zanetich	Clayton
385	Lucy Davey	Clayton
386	Luis Oyola	Clayton
387	Luis Riviera	Clayton
388	Luis Riviera, Sr.	Clayton
389	Lydia Carrigan	Williamstown
390	Lynn Atkinson	Millville
391	M. Elaine Sware	Clayton
392	M. Geri	Franklinville
393	M. Metz	Clayton
394	Madeline Moffa	Malaga
395	Maegert Claro	Clayton
396	Manny Claro	Clayton
397	Manny Wokveck	Clayton
398	Marco A. Riviera	Clayton
399	Margaret Bryan	Clayton
400	Margaret Wallace	Franklinville
401	Marge Kirsch	Clayton
402	Marge Lapin	Clayton
403	Maria Bella	Clayton
404	Maria DiCicco	Clayton
405	Maria Espinal	Clayton
406	Maria Ronzo	Williamstown
407	Mariann Metz	Clayton
408	Marie Bancroft	Malaga
409	Marina L. Stewart	Newfield
410	Marisel Rivera	Vineland
411	Mark Atkinson	Millville
412	Mark Morton	Clayton
413	Mark Ramos	Malaga
414	Marlene Alston	Clayton
415	Marlene Castelli	Malaga
416	Martin Kelley	Hammonton
417	Mary Anne Sena	Vineland
418	Mary DeFeo	Vineland
419	Mary Ellen Waterman	Mullica Hill
420	Mary J. Quinn	Monroeville
421	Mary Johnson	Franklinville
422	Mary Marion	Turnersville
423	Mary Mignogna	Blackwood
424	Mary R. Colache	Williamstown
425	Mary R. Rabne	Vineland
426	Mary Sparks	Mullica Hill
427	Mary Velazquez	Newfield
428	Mary White	Newfield
429	Mary Yoworsky	Clayton
430	MaryAnn Fithian	Franklinville
431	Marybeth Boeckle	Glassboro
432	Marybeth Owens	Clayton
433	Matt Morton	Clayton
434	Maureen Butcher	Pittsgrove
435	Maureen Geri	Franklinville
436	Maureen Kelleher	Newfield
437	Maureen Starling	Pittsgrove
438	Maurice Young	Clayton
439	Megan McCauley	Vineland
440	Megan Pontano	Sicklerville
441	Megen C. Keury	Clayton
442	Melissa Holden
443	Melnyk Family	Franklinville
444	Michael A. Cianchetti	Elmer
445	Michael Beer	Clayton
446	Michael Bryan	Clayton
447	Michael Chambers	Elmer
448	Michael Griffish	Vineland
449	Michael Jenkins	Newfield
450	Michael Kelton	Malaga
451	Michael Magliocco	Newfield
452	Michael McHale	Mullica Hill
453	Michael Menginger	Franklinville
454	Michael Pagano	Millville
455	Michael Sarill	Clayton
456	Michelle Boylan	Clayton
457	Michelle Metz	Clayton
458	Miguel Griffish	Vineland
459	Miguelina Salcedo	Clayton
460	Mike Blatt	Forest Grove
461	Mike Gaull	Clayton
462	Mike Lopez	Clayton
463	Mike Lugo	Clayton
464	Mike Vassallo	Malaga
465	Miller Mills	Malaga
466	Molly Atkinson	Sicklerville
467	Mr. S. Velazquez	Newfield
468	Mrs. S. Velazquez	Newfield
469	Nadine Ambrico	Bellmawr
470	Nancy Godfrey	Pitman
471	Nancy Kane	Malaga
472	Nancy Pantaleo	Malaga
473	Nardelli Family	Williamstown
474	Natalie Persia	Newfield
475	Nate Thomas	Clayton
476	Nic Blauth	Vineland
477	Nicholas Deitz	Newfield
478	Nicolas Hrynenko	Newfield
479	Nicole Bacher	Clayton
480	Nicole Hoffer	Clayton
481	Nicole Sieminski	Glassboro
482	Nicolina Candela	Malaga
483	Nicolle Russo	Clayton
484	P. Sarill	Clayton
485	Pat McCauley	Newfield
486	Pat Schnenberg	Glassboro
487	Patricia A. Mimuy	Clayton
488	Patricia Duva	Hammonton
489	Patricia J. Blauth	Vineland
490	Patricia Lipshultz	Franklinville
491	Patricia Wight	Newfield
492	Patrick DeFeo	Bridgeton
493	Patrick Kelleher	Newfield
494	Paul A. Betz	Vineland
495	Paul Arey	Pine Hill
496	Paul N. Gant	Franklinville
497	Paula Dalessandro	Malaga
498	Paula Melnyk	Franklinville
499	Pauline Blatt	Forest Grove
500	Pauline Taylor	Malaga
501	Pearl Richer	Newfield
502	Peggy Lisinger	Elmer
503	Peggy Pennisi	Sewell
504	Philip Quinn	Monroeville
505	Phillip Colache	Clayton
506	Piera Gravenor	Malaga
507	Pilita Porlucas	Franklinville
508	Polly Sergenti	Clayton
509	Princess Lugo	Clayton
510	Rachel Luchay	Mullica Hill
511	Rachel Ramos	Malaga
512	Ralph Cleo	Frankinville
513	Ralph Travaglione	Franklinville
514	Ramona Sansalone	Malaga
515	Rashawn Previtt	Clayton
516	Ray Gonzalez	Clayton
517	Regina Arey	Pine Hill
518	Regina Farside	Vineland
519	Regina Sims	Malaga
520	Renata Colache	Clayton
521	Renee Hubbard	Newfield
522	Renee Maurer	Malaga
523	Rev. Gannon	Cherry Hill
524	Rich Albano	Clayton
525	Rich Kilroy	Malaga
526	Richard E. Doone III	Franklinville
527	Richard Krug	Clayton
528	Richard Lincoln	Clayton
529	Richard P. Craig, Jr.	Clayton
530	Richard Webekind	Newfield
531	Rickie Krug	Clayton
532	Rita Alvino	Franklinville
533	Rita Griffiths	Vineland
534	Robert Ambrico	Bellmawr
535	Robert Furtan	Clayton
536	Robert Godfrey	Pitman
537	Robert Johnson	Franklinville
538	Robert Lawrence	Clayton
539	Robert White	Newfield
540	Ron Iuliucci	Malaga
541	Ron Vassallo	Alloway
542	Ronald Vassallo	Newfield
543	Rosalie B. Moore	Clayton
544	Roselee Papiano	Malaga
545	Rossi Family	Franklinville
546	Rubea Luciano	Clayton
547	Russell Buck	Clayton
548	Ruth Sottile	Clayton
549	Ryan Jenkins	Minotola
550	Sam Campbell	Willimstown
551	Sam DiStefano	Sicklerville
552	Sam Lopez	Clayton
553	Sammy Steenland	Newfield
554	Sandy DelPalazzo	Voorhees
555	Sandy VanDelft	Clayton
556	Sara Melnyk	Franklinville
557	Sara Truluck	Clayton
558	Scott Bryan	Clayton
559	Scott J. Sievers	Vineland
560	Shannon Muller	Clayton
561	Sharyn Beckel	Pittsgrove
562	Shawn Krug	Clayton
563	Sheena Otto	Franklinville
564	Sheila Smith	Clayton
565	Shelby Patrick	Malaga
566	Shirley Rumph	Clayton
567	Shonna Cooper	Clayton
568	Somer Knisely	Malaga
569	Stacey Yenelli	Clayton
570	Stephanie Kelton	Malaga
571	Stephanie Starling	Pittsgrove
572	Steve Martin	Clayton
573	Steve Yoworsky	Clayton
574	Steven Velazquez	Newfield
575	Sue DiCicco	Clayton
576	Sue Griffis	Clayton
577	Sue Hofer	Malaga
578	Susan Benarba	Clayton
579	Syed Benarba	Clayton
580	T. M. Swanson	Clayton
581	T. Mick	Franklin Twp.
582	Taylor Trace	Malaga
583	Theodore K. Heiland	Hammonton
584	Theresa Borda	Glassboro
585	Theresa Carlson	Mt. Ephraim
586	Theresa Keppen	Clayton
587	Theresa Paleri	Clayton
588	Therese Rizzo	Newfield
589	Thomas Bosco	Malaga
590	Thomas K. Metz	Clayton
591	Tim Carlson	Mt. Ephraim
592	Timothy Trace	Malaga
593	Tina Hayden	Franklinville
594	Tina Young	Clayton
595	Tita Lugo	Clayton
596	Tom Luchay	Mullica Hill
597	Tom Profico	Clayton
598	Tony Bauer	Clayton
599	Tony Brown	Clayton
600	Tony Yoworsky	Clayton
601	Tony Ramos	Malaga
602	Traci Atencio	Clayton
603	Trevor Blauth	Vineland
604	Tyler McCord	Clayton
605	Valerie Schifano	Colts Neck
606	Vanessa Caban	Clayton
607	Vanessa Hughes	Clayton
608	Vannessa Omari	Clayton
609	Veneranda Ramos	Malaga
610	Vicki Taggart	Clayton
611	Vincent Paglioni	Clayton
612	Vincent Sware	Clayton
613	Virginia Wacker	West Collingswood Heights
614	Viva Mackey	Clayton
615	Vivian Hamilton	Clayton
616	Walter Schultz	Malaga
617	Walter W. Clapp	Clayton
618	Werfy Fernandez	Clayton
619	William F. Walker	Franklinville
620	William T. Steenland	Vineland
621	Yasmin Espinal	Clayton
622	Yohanny Salcedo	Clayton
623	Zac Gaull	Clayton
624	Zachary Farside	Vineland
625	Zory Caban	Clayton
626	Zuleyka Salcedo	Clayton

627

Edward Zeuner

Hainesport

Wonder what will happen to the beautiful stained glass windows in your church if the closures go through?  Check out this article from the Republican Herald.

"The Diocese of Allentown is using the Internet to sell the stained-glass windows from the former Immaculate Conception Church in Kelayres and the former St. Bertha Church in Tuscarora.

Matt Kerr, director of communications for the Diocese of Allentown, confirmed Wednesday the diocese is "organizing" the sale of the windows, but will not get the money from the windows' sale.

"The diocese posted the windows for sale on the Internet 10 days or two weeks ago," Kerr said. "Proceeds from the sale will go to the succeeding parish."

Funny how the Diocese is always quick to point out that they have nothing to gain by these church closures, yet they seem to have their hand in everything.  I want to know if the parish owns the property, not the diocese, then why does the parish have no say whatsoever in whether the church is closed.  Sounds to me like selective ownership.  If a diocese is being sued, they own and control nothing.  If convenient for the diocese, they make decisions about the very existance of such parishes and their right to continue without any concern for the parishioners. 

Anyway, if you are interested in purchasing stained glass windows or just curious to know how much those stained glass windows are worth, you can check them out here.  Here's a cute little window you can buy for $2,135, complete with the inscription "In Loving Memory of Corporal Paul Kuhn." 

Makes you think twice about making donations in memory of loved ones, doesn't it?  I can only imagine what the windows at a church like Sacred Heart in Vineland are worth!

On the brighter side, we are hearing all sorts of rumors about change that may be coming our way.  At this point, none are confirmed, but it seems promising, so keep up the prayer and hard work.  Let's be like that persistent friend from Luke 11:5-13:

And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,' and he says in reply from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.' I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.

"And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

After all, if we aren't willing to stand up and fight for our churches and parishes, maybe we don't deserve them. 

Click here to read article. (Yes it's here!)

St. Bartholomew's Church in Camden, the only African-American Catholic church in the Diocese of Camden, has been slated to merge with another parish and lose its historic and culturally unique character. Church members have been united in opposition to the plan for quite a while now. We in the COP have been utterly amazed and confused by the senselessness of this plan. Clearly an irreplaceable and one-of-a-kind asset to the Diocese, St. Batholomew's was set up for Black Catholics who experienced outright rejection in other parishes. The parish draws Black Catholics from far and wide. Says Rachel Loveland Fisher, 70, of Cherry Hill:

Before the church was built...[she] recalls standing at the back of churches in Camden as a young child because black parishioners were not allowed to sit in the pews.

"They refused my granddad, who used to be a slave," Fisher said. "I remember they wouldn't let him sit down, and if it was really crowded, they would make us go outside. They put us out on the steps."

This statement reminded me of the stories of my own family, who is Italian. Apparently they were not permitted to sit in the same church as the Irish-Americans and, like those at St. Bart's, my own relatives were forced to worship elsewhere. Finally they came to Vineland where they farmed and set up their own church, which is now the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish (originally called Sacred Heart), which is scheduled for closure. After outgrowing this church, they later built the (current), cathedral-like, beautiful Sacred Heart, whose status will now be "secondary worship site." Yikes, my grandparents and great-grandparents must be rolling in their graves. But I digress.

Under [Bishop Galante's] plan, St. Bartholomew would merge with St. Joan; St. Joan would become the worship site. The new parish would then cluster or share a priest with Sacred Heart Church in Camden.

Further, in a June 23rd response to St. Bart's parishioners:

"As you write, St. Bartholomew's was established and has maintained its mission to serve the black Catholic community within a specific portion of the Diocese of Camden," Galante wrote. "I assure you that the proposed merger intends to not only acknowledge, embrace and endorse this mission, but also to strengthen this mission into the future."

Walton said it was the bishop's intention from the beginning that St. Bartholomew would remain open "because of its historical value as an African-American church."

Clearly this intention is far from clear to members of St. Bart's, who want to maintain their church as it is and without diocesan interference. No wonder there's confusion. In April they're set to be squashed as a historically Black parish to merge and worship elsewhere, and then a few months later Mr. Walton transforms into the picture of cultural sensitivity, saying St. Bart's will stay open "because of its historical value as an African-American church." Gee, why all the confusion? Could it be a pattern of inconsistency and misleading rhetoric on the part of the diocese? Could it be that Galante, McGrath, Vollmer, and Walton had assumed that lumping non-white minorities together into one parish wouldn't make any difference until they experienced such tremendous resistance that they became concerned with the appearance of cultural insensitivity, at best?

Isn't it ironic that, historically, no matter what happens with the African-American Catholics in our diocese, they are consistently being forced to worship or not to worship somewhere against their will? First they are rejected at what would have been their normal parishes, then a mission church is set up where they are to attend, and now they're being forced to worship in yet another church.

We in the COP see absolutely no reason why St. Bart's should be anything other than what it has been--a "stand-alone" church. At savestmarys, we feel it is nothing short of shameful that Bishop Galante would want to merge and consequently dilute the character of a congregation with as rich a history as St. Bartholomew's.

I know that this contributor is not the only person who feels the "process" to determine which parishes would close and which ones would remain open was significantly flawed; that basically, it was biased and politically motivated. The argument goes that generally those who were "in" with the bishop got to keep their parishes open. I personally don't know since I wasn't a party to the discussions, and I don't know too much about diocesan politics. But the evidence is there. What do you think?

This is what was submitted to Save St. Marys yesterday, 6/23, by email:

Been doing some checking and researching and am attaching information I put together from the 2008 Diocesan Directory and several Issues of the Star Herald. 

I find it interesting that most of the members of the Bishop's committees who held the fates of our parishes in their hands, have just about kept all their Parishes open.

 

CAMDEN DIOCESE PRESBYTERIAL COUNCIL AND PARISHES TO BE KEPT OPEN OR CLOSED a/o 4/3/08

Most Rev Joseph A. Galante, Presider

Rev. Joseph E. Wallace, Exec Secretary (Christ the King-Haddonfield) OPEN, Stand Alone Parish

Rev. Thomas S. Donio, Recording Secretary (Nativity-Franklinville) OPEN

    - Merge Nativity (Franklinville), St. Bridget (Glassboro) and St. Catherine (Clayton)

      with worship sites at Nativity and St. Bridget (for Spanish community)

EX OFFICIO MEMBERS:

Rev. Msgr. John H. Burton (St. Isidore-Vineland) OPEN

      - merge with Sacred Heart (Vineland) as secondary worship site

Rev. Msgr. Peter M. Joyce (Incarnation-Mantua) OPEN - Stand Alone Parish

Msgr. Robert T. McDermott (St. Joe's Pro Cathedral-Camden) OPEN

-merge with St. Cecilia's (Pennsauken) & St. Veronica (Delair) (both closing)

Rev. Msgr. Roger E. McGrath (St. Pius X-Cherry Hill) OPEN

  -     Merge with Holy Rosary (closed)

Rev. Terry Odien (St. Peter Celestine-Cherry Hill) OPEN

  -      Merge with Queen of Heaven (closed)

Rev. William Weiksnar, OFM (Immaculate Conception-Bridgeton) OPEN

Merge St. Teresa of Avila (Bridgeton), Immaculate Conception (Bridgeton), St. Michael (Cedarville) and St. Mary (Rosenhayn-closing) with primary worship sites at  Immaculate Conception, particularly for the Hispanic community, and at St. Michael

Rev. Msgr. William A. Brennan (St. Pius X-Cherry Hill) OPEN

merge with Holy Rosary (closed)
 

APPOINTED MEMBERS:

Rev. Msgr. Joseph V. DiMauro (St. Patrick's-Woodbury) OPEN

Merge St. Patrick's (Woodbury), St. Matthew (National Park) and Most Holy Redeemer (Westville Grove-closing) with primary worship site at St. Patrick and secondary site at St. Matthew

Rev. Msgr. Thomas J. McIntyre (Star of the Sea- Cape May) OPEN, Stand Alone Parish

 

Rev. Msgr. Thomas J. Morgan (St. Thomas Moore-Cherry Hill) OPEN

Cluster St. Thomas Moore and St. Mary's (both open)

Rev. Msgr. Victor S. Muro (Immaculate Heart-Vineland) CLOSED

Merge Immaculate Heart with St. Francis of Assisi (Vineland) with worship site at St. Francis

Rev. Thomas A. Newton (St. Peter Celestine-Cherry Hill) OPEN

Merge St. Peter Celestine and Queen of Heaven (Cherry Hill - closing) with worship site at St. Peter Celestine

Rev. Msgr. William Quinn (St. Paul-Stone Harbor) OPEN

Merge Maris Stella (Avalon) with St. Paul with the primary worship site at Maris Stella and a secondary worship site at St. Paul

Rev. Msgr. Russell L. Rock (St. Maria Goretti-Runnemede) CLOSED

Merge St. Teresa (Runnemede) and St. Maris Goretti (Runnemede) with worship site at St. Teresa

Rev. Msgr. Patrick M. Tierney (Maris Stella-Avalon) OPEN

Merge with St. Paul (Stone Harbor) with primary worship site at Maris Stella and secondary site at St. Paul

Rev. Msgr. James R. Tracy (St. Charles Borromeo-Sicklerville) OPEN, Stand Alone Parish

 

ELECTED MEMBERS:

REPRESENTATIVES BY ORDINATION SENIORITY

Rev. Vincent G. Carpinelli-Group 1 (Our Lady of Lourdes-Glassboro) OPEN

Merge Our Lady of Lourdes (Glassboro) and Queen of Peace (Pitman) with primary worship site at Our Lady of Lourdes and a secondary site at Queen of Peace

Rev. Joseph D. Wallace-Group 2 (Christ the King-Haddonfield) OPEN, Stand Alone Parish

Rev. James A. Casadia-Group 3 (St. Ann's-Wildwood) OPEN

Merge St. Ann (Wildwood) with Assumption (Wildwood Crest) with the worship site at St. Ann.  Assumption will continue as a secondary site for summer tourists

Thank you, Press of Atlantic City, for the coverage. Click here to read the article

Snippet: As Anthony Mecca watched the head of the Camden Diocese begin his slow walk across the field next to Our Lady of Pompeii Church, he held aloft his hand-drawn sign, written in Latin. "Pater, dimmitte Galante," it began. Underneath, the translation read, "Father, forgive Galante."

Commentary:
Here's an Amen to that! Despite the fact that it was a weekday evening, Bishop Galante was the recipient of more than 50 protesters (the Press apparently underestimated) at the"Catholic tent revival" held on the grounds of Our Lady of Pompeii Church in East Vineland last night. The diocesan spokesman Andy Walton says that he hopes we'll see the need for the closures and that they'll pray for us. Well we won't and right back at ya.

The bishop knows we'll be at various events and it doesn't stop him from going around, says Walton? That's a lie. Not only has his schedule been altered and the bishop forced to have many of his meetings in Camden instead of the Pius X retreat center (which is right next door to his home), he has stopped publishing things in the Star Herald's calendar. The bishop has both canceled and proposed cancellation of various events, including masses, for fear of the protesters. We're winning, and he knows it.