| St. Francis Xavier Church The Oratory |
2319 Green Street Philadelphia, PA 19130-3120 Phone: 215-765-4568 Fax: 215-765-4049 |
News Release
For immediate release:
June 16, 2003
Contact:
| Rev. Msgr. John T. Conway Vicar for Philadelphia - South 215-476-7484 |
Rev. Paul C. Convery Pastor, Saint Francis Xavier Parish 215-765-4568 |
Saint Hedwig Church To Close As A Worship Site
Reverend Paul C. Convery, Pastor of Saint Francis Xavier Parish, announced that Saint Hedwig Church, located
at 24th and Brown Streets in Philadelphia, will close. The last Mass will take place on Saturday, August
30, 2003 at 5:30 p.m.
Saint Hedwig closed as a parish in June 2000 as part of the Cluster 20 Pastoral Plan which Cardinal
Bevilacqua accepted in February 1998. Since June 2000, Saint Hedwig Church has served as an alternate worship site
for Saint Francis Xavier Parish,
located at 24th and Green Streets in Philadelphia (two blocks from Saint Hedwig). A worship site is
an additional sacred building (church) of the parish used for Mass and where funeral masses can also be permitted.
After five years of implementation, the Cluster 20 parishes have been undergoing an evaluation of the 1998 Pastoral
Plan. The decision, supported by the Cluster Advisory Council, to close Saint Hedwig as a worship site is, among
other reasons, the result of rising maintenance and insurance costs. Approximately 125 people attend the one weekly
Mass, held on Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. at Saint Hedwig Church.
In late March 2003, approximately 25 former parishioners of Saint Hedwig Parish attended a meeting held by Father
Convery, the pastor of Saint Francis Xavier Parish. The former parishioners were saddened but understanding of
the need to close the church when presented with all the information. The pastor also distributed a survey to former
parishioners of Saint Hedwig (most of whom joined Saint Francis Xavier Parish). Only 26 of the 65 people surveyed
indicated that they attend Mass at Saint Hedwig on a weekly basis and only ten indicated that they attend Mass
there frequently. 57 of the 65 respondents indicated they would attend Mass at Saint Francis Xavier if Saint Hedwig
closed. In May 2003, the Cluster 20 Advisory Council, in the interest of good stewardship, offered the recommendation
to close Saint Hedwig.
Seven Trinitarian Sisters who live in the former Saint Hedwig Convent are planning to move in late August 2003.
None of the other buildings at Saint Hedwig are currently in use. No decision has been made regarding any of the
buildings at Saint Hedwig.
Editor's Note: Attached please find a background sheet on Cluster Pastoral Planning. For more information,
visit https://www.archdiocese-phl.org/cluster/c20/