Catholic Church shopping Part XVI: mother church

Since we worship a God who literally rose from the dead, our "God of surprises" has the wonderful quality of regularly surprising us with the miracle of breathing life into things that were dead. And I was pleasantly surprised to recently see that a parish I had heretofore avoided as a moribund place now has a fresh spirit blowing through it. The feeling was palpable as soon as I walked into our island's mother church of St. Peter's (now officially part of the parish cluster of "The Catholic

Community of St. Peter-Assumption-St.Paul").

There didn't seem to be much going on in the bulletin but there was a pretty rousing flyer calling for men to join the Holy Name Society of the parish, describing their mission as being to make themselves better men, supporting one another's spiritual needs, and doing good works. There was a racially diverse congregation with a few young families sprinkled throughout. Honestly, there didn't seem to be too many more people there than attended when Monsignor Dorney was alive, but there was something new and ineffably encouraging about the church now. The choir was talented and seemed genuinely animated by a holy joy in their task. The priest was, I believe, Filipino and spoke rapidly with an accent with precluded me from understanding more than about 70% of what he said. And even though I couldn't really grasp the main point of his message, what I could understand of his passionate sermon was filled with one holy sentiment after another which, surprisingly, satisfied my soul. In addition, the church- which had been allowed to crumble away for years on end, now seemed like it had enjoyed some repairs and regular cleaning.

After Mass, a group of men hosted a social gathering in a room adjacent to the foyer, which had once been a chapel I think. They provided coffee and juice and a lavish spread of delicious pastries. The fellowship was warm and welcoming. I came away from my time there with an optimistic mood and uplifted spirit. I don't live close enough to attend regularly, but would definitely consider joining the parish if I did.

R.I.P. Monsignor James Dorney

Monsignor James Dorney, the co-vicar of Staten Island (whatever that means) has passed away at age 83. We have never been an admirer of his, as a quick search of this blog will demonstrate. But I would like to relate one positive memory I have of the man. I attended Stations of the Cross at St. Peter's on a Friday night in Lent about 8 years ago. Monsignor Dorney was already feeble and bent over with whatever physical ailments were torturing him. Nevertheless, despite the fact that the meager number of people in attendance surely would have granted him any allowance to accommodate his age and weakness, Monsignor Dorney nevertheless exerted all his strength to make a full, and obviously painful, genuflection down to the floor at every station to honor his Savior, and then struggled with everything he had to raise himself again and move on the next one to do it again. That was a beautiful gesture of love and respect for our God, and I will never forget it.

Rest in peace, Brother Jordan

Although I didn't know this priest, I just wanted to link to his obituary, which describes an extraordinary life in service to the Church. After teaching in high schools for many years, he suddenly up and moved to teach in Kenya where he served impoverished children from the streets of Nyeri. Our Church has so many heroic priests and nuns like this whose deeds go untold and mostly unnoticed, except by the Heavenly Father and the countless lives they touch.

Goodbye St. Peter's, Hello P.S. 59!

After receiving a death sentence back in February, it has now been announced that St. Peter's church will be leasing the former St. Peter's Girls High School to the city for use as a 372 seat public elementary school. Details of the plan are sketchy, but it will cost the taxpayers a mere $5.69 million dollars to convert the school into a school (does that mean chiseling out the stone crosses, whitewashing religious pictures and other assorted iconoclasm?). It's already being predicted by those "in the know" that the school will inevitably expand to encompass grades 6 through 8 and that, because of low enrollment in the plethora of area public schools, P.S. 59 will be made into a "special" school...most likely meaning violent and disturbed children. Does the perfidy of Monsignor Dorney know no bounds? It wasn't enough that his lack of leadership helped destroy the school and the parish, but now he stabs the neighborhood in the back by parking yet another problematic institution in their backyard. The property value of all those beautiful old homes and ritzy condos are about to drop precipitously.

Another one bites the dust. R.I.P. St. Peter's

Despite giving us reason to believe that there would be no more school closings, the Archdiocese just announced that it will be closing the venerable St. Peter's Girls High School in June and moving the elementary school to the shuttered St. Paul's school complex on Clinton Avenue. The high school girls would be integrated into Notre Dame and Moore. According to the Archdiocese, the high school would only have a mere 95 students in the Fall, thus making it financially unviable. Students and alumni are understandably devastated. So, in the latest humiliation for Staten Island Catholics, the Mother Church of the island, our oldest parish, in our most populous and urban neighborhood, can't even keep their school open.

Predictably, many people are blaming the Archdiocese, but the culprits are endless. For one thing, rising costs have to be a factor. Tuition is $6900 a year. That is far, far above what my Catholic school tuition cost when I was in school, even adjusted for inflation. I can't imagine anyone who could afford that, especially if you have more than one child. In addition, since the Vatican II church's own lax theology has produced a vocations crisis, lay teachers are a considerable expense, as they do insist on being paid. On the other hand, St. Peter's Boys school has over 600 students, a brand new facility and is by all accounts flourishing. Are North Shore Catholic parents mysteriously having a preponderance of boys for some reason? Or perhaps it has to do with the fact that the boys' school is located in leafy Livingston, while the girls' school is located in gritty New Brighton. It's a fact that what was once a largely Irish/Italian/Polish neighborhood back in the 60s is now predominantly black and Hispanic. And as we know, most of us Catholic "ethnics" aren't too big on integration and multiculturalism. That doesn't reflect too well on our Faith, but it's a fact we must acknowledge- the school's base has fled from the area and is not too inclined to send their kids to school there.

Or maybe the problem begins at the top. I don't usually mention people by name here, but any pseudonyms would be transparent in this case. What exactly has Monsignor Dorney done to increase students and parishioners? I don't know much about him except that he has been pastor of St. Peter's for as long as I can remember, and his magnificent church seems to be crumbling about his ears, literally and figuratively. His sermons are dreary and demotivational in the extreme, delivered in a tone resembling that of Ferris Bueller's teacher on Ambien, although I can tell he was well educated. He does not seem to be in good health. He is the co-vicar of Staten Island, whatever that means. He has displayed no leadership over the island's Catholics as far as I can tell. He has officiated at funeral Masses for at least one pro-abortion politician I can recall. He supported the sale of the Margaret Mary convent to the Moslem American Society. I really can't see the man doing anything to evangelize, promote or defend the Faith.

I attended a recent Mass at St. Peter's. A glance at the bulletin showed that there was literally nothing going on in the biggest church and most historically prestigious parish on Staten Island. There were some announcements for events in other churches. Monsignor Dorney was listed as the only priest in residence. There were a mere 50 people at the 12:00 Mass. Surprisingly, there were a few young people. The music was performed by a middle-aged guitarist who I believe plays in a band at Adobe Blues on weekends. With his 1840s style grey mutton chops, he resembles a mild mannered school teacher, but I can testify that this guy can seriously rock out on a Saturday night. He toned it down for Mass, and played the usual syrupy 70s tunes that seem positively out of place in this Gothic style cathedral. Monsignor Dorney gave a sermon about Gandhi. It was excruciating. All in all, it was just a sad and depressing experience. Seeing how the church is run, it is no wonder to me that the school is in the shape it's in.