From: Joseph 
> To: Robert 

> > Robert:
> >
> > As you know I've become very concerned with the possibility of the
> > Assumption Parish being closed in the not too distant future.  I've
> > attached an article and a letter that I wrote for you to read.  What I
> > was thinking about was having added to the Polish Heritage Project's
> > website.  (Recall that on the other website I've copy as to why the
> > name had to be changed.)  Let me know what you think about it after you
> > read it and whether or not it would be worth putting on line.
> >
> > In the Church today there is an ongoing effort to close the small,
> > ethnic parishes.  But when the diocese of Erie said that "the parish
> > (ABVM) should not be involved with anything that is not beneficial to
> > the Church or does not follow the mission of the Church".  What planet
> > are they on.  It's understandable that there are problems facing the
> > Church but the answer can't be closure and consolidation.  Perhaps by
> > voicing a concern and making people more aware of the "corporate
> > mentality" of the Church, others will start to stand up.
> >
> > Let me know what you think and any ideas as to how we might be able to
> > put one or the other on line.................
> >
> >


In reply
Robert wrote:

> Hi Joe;
>
> Very interesting! I can't imagine that the Church would actually use the
> language of "consolidation" in the same paragraph as "ethnic parishes." The
> Church itself is overseeing and calculating its own ultimate demise. Much
> the same way St. Stephens has altered its (Sunday) mass schedule over the years to
> accommodate the NFL.
>
> We all know that money is tight, but how can you take a church away from
> good people and those of the following generations that funded and built it.
>
> In direct comparison, look at the congregations at the local Lutheran
> Churches (albeit not under Vatican control), there may only be five or ten
> people at those services, yet those houses of worship stay open and
> unconsolidated.
>
> The words escape me, but the feeling is there.
>
> I think we should put both pages online. They both read well to me. I've
> been aware of situations in the Pittsburgh area and they always use 'lack of
> patronage' or 'dwindling congregation' as the reason for closing a Parish.
>
> You're also very correct in using the term 'corporate mentality' which has
> been adopted by the church recently.
>
> A church can have a bake sale, fair, bingo or craft show pandering all sorts
> of 'unrelated' articles to make revenue for any given parish, but when you
> can offer the revenue from a deeply religious based but 'ethnic' project and
> the church snubs it, there is definitely something wrong.
>
> What there should be, but isn't, is a Church advocate group that is a fully
> functional branch of the Vatican.
>
> How the hell did the Catholic Church get to America any way? Was it not the
> 'ethnic immigrants' that brought it here? If I'm not mistaken, it was the
> vast majority of hard core Protestants (in protest) and other sects that
> allowed room for religious freedom here.
>
> There is definitely an unsympathetic homogenization under way in the Church
> attempting to not only cleanse your soul but your ethnicity as well. If
> Catholicism is truly the Universal Religion it had better start embracing
> the universe.
>
> Later,
> Robert