Immaculate Conception Church, an inner-city parish started by black Catholics, will close and merge with St. Mary Catholic Church, a predominantly white parish with a black priest.
Officials in the Catholic Diocese of Erie said the move, expected in spring or summer, would help the two parishes, which have aging populations that are declining in number. The merger also is expected to create an opportunity for evangelization in the neighborhood around the two east Erie churches.
"It was agreed the best way to strengthen what they do have there and hopefully grow in that area of the city ... was that they would merge," said Monsignor Tom McSweeney, spokesman for the diocese.
Immaculate Conception, 233 E. 16th St., and St. Mary, 315 E. Ninth St., are about eight blocks apart.
The full name of St. Mary, which dates back to the 1840s, is actually St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, said the Rev. Gerald Wright, its temporary parochial administrator.
The black parish was dedicated about a century later to Mary and the Immaculate Conception, the Rev. Edward Krause said. Today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a holy day in the Catholic Church.
Krause, a white pastor who has been at Immaculate Conception since 1989, said the October announcement by Erie Catholic Bishop Donald W. Trautman about the union between the two churches was difficult for some members to hear.
"It is painful and hard for us, yet it is necessary and makes some sense for the inner-city east side," Krause said.
He's usually there only a couple Sundays a month, with different priests filling in when he travels to some of the other 122 parishes in the 13-county diocese to celebrate Latin Mass. Krause also works as a professor at Gannon University in Erie.
Members of his church said a declining number of priests was one reason they were given for the merger. Officials also cited a drop in membership in both parishes, which have mostly older worshippers.
St. Mary has an average attendance at Mass of about 30, Immaculate Conception a few more, church leaders said.
"If we were both a thriving parish, there's no reason for merger," Wright said.
Clifton Dobbs Jr., 83, has been going to Immaculate Conception for 62 years and is now president of the parish council.
He said there is worry among his fellow parishioners about how welcome they'll be at St. Mary.
Dobbs said his church was created in the first place because black Catholics weren't always welcome in other parishes.
But he's going to try St. Mary and is encouraging others to do the same.
"Do I think it will actually work? I'm not so sure," Dobbs said. "It will take some doing."
He said his congregation will be sad to lose Krause. Dobbs did say that having a black pastor at St. Mary could help make the transition smoother.
Wright said the merger could lead to the most multiracial parish in Erie. But he's also realistic about problems that could arise because of differences in the backgrounds of the people coming together.
"There's naturally going to be some tension," he said.
However, he pointed out that not all the people who worship at Immaculate Conception are black and St. Mary is located in a neighborhood that, while once white, is now mostly black.
The goal is for the combined parish to reach out to those neighbors.
"It is our hope we will be able to evangelize in this area," Wright said.
Deacon Robert Walker of St. Mary, who is white, said he's eager to knock on doors in the parish and share his Catholic faith with people who are willing to hear about it.
He's also excited because he said Immaculate Conception has an organist, who is expected to switch to St. Mary, and a cantor to lead singing.
"All they have here is me and I can't sing," Walker said.
He said he does want Immaculate Conception members to know they're welcome at St. Mary and he feels sorry for what they will be losing.
"We understand," he said. "It could have been us."
Deanna Baker, 59, was baptized at Immaculate Conception and expected to be buried from it. She never thought the church her mother took her to would close.
"I'm very upset," she said after Mass on Sunday.
Baker doesn't think she'll go to St. Mary.
Three other Catholic churches are closer to her home. She drives past them now to reach Immaculate Conception because of the history and family connections.
Dobbs said the same is true for him and many other members, who don't live in the neighborhood but continue to attend Immaculate Conception.
McSweeney and Wright said the St. Mary site offers a larger church building than Immaculate Conception. The Ninth Street church also has a rectory with office space for the evangelization efforts that would reach out to all the areas in the combined parish.
Officials said a decision hasn't been made about the Immaculate Conception property. Krause said some Masses and funerals might still be held there.
DANA MASSING can be reached at 870-1729 or by e-mail.
Source: goerie.com
Post Title
→immaculate conception: Changes coming
Post URL
→https://imaginefantasy4u.blogspot.com/2008/12/immaculate-conception-changes-coming.html
Visit Imagination and Fantation for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection
