JANUARY 2004
Cluster 23 Parishes Continue
to Assess Pastoral Needs
Cluster 23 / Philadelphia-South Vicariate
|
St. Edmond |
King of Peace |
|
|
St. Charles Borromeo |
St. Gabriel |
St. Thomas Aquinas |
In April 2003, the Cluster 23 Implementation Team (consisting of laypersons and clergy of the five parishes) began the process of assessing the implementation of the Cluster Pastoral Plan of 1999, as well as identifying the current pastoral needs of the area.
With the announcement of the consolidation of St. Maria Goretti and St. John Neumann High Schools, and the Cardinal Archbishop s acceptance of the recommendation to use the Goretti site for the merged school, Implementation Team members brought to their discussions the concern of parishioners as to what will happen to the Neumann site come June 2004. Implementation Team members then went back to their Parish Pastoral Councils and solicited from them their thoughts on the future use of this site. Later, the five pastors drafted a letter to then-Archbishop Rigali and sent it to him on October 14, 2003. The letter requested that the new Archbishop consider the possibilities of maintaining a Catholic presence there by having the Archdiocese use the site for another purpose in serving the community.
In his written response to the pastors, Cardinal Rigali directed that a meeting be arranged between Monsignor Timothy Senior (Secretary for Catholic Human Services) and the members of the Cluster 23 Implementation Team to discuss this matter. That meeting took place on December 9th, and also was attended by Mr. John Wagner (Director of the Archdiocesan Office for Community Development), Monsignor John Conway (Vicar for Philadelphia-South) and additional laypersons from the individual Parish Pastoral Councils.
At this meeting, Archdiocesan officials again heard the concerns of people living in the neighborhood as to the future use of the Neumann site. These officials assured those in attendance that, at this time, the Archdiocese is not considering any other use of the present St. John Neumann High School site other than the development of supportive housing for the elderly, and that no other re-use of this site is under consideration while this possibility is explored. It also was made clear that the exploration of the feasibility of such a project (i.e. supportive housing for the elderly) could take quite some time possibly as long as a year and a half. During that time, the Office for Catholic Education would continue to maintain the property and provide security.