Dear Parishioners of Visitation B.V.M.,
Today and tomorrow at each Sunday Mass, the parishioners of our neighboring parish, Saint Boniface (West Diamond Street) will hear that their parish and parish elementary school will close in June 2006. The parishioners will be invited to join you as members of Visitation B.V.M. parish. As of March 15, 2006, your -Parochial Administrator, Fr. Gary Kramer will be reassigned within the Archdiocese. Cardinal Rigali has appointed Fr. Bruce Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., the present pastor of St. Boniface, pastor of Visitation B.V.M. parish, effective March 15, 2006. Father Augusto Concha will remain as Parochial Vicar of Visitation B.V.M. parish until June 30, 2006, at which time he will be reassigned. Father James Cascione, C.Ss.R., currently Parochial Vicar of St. Boniface parish, will continue in this role at Visitation B.V.M. Also, the Archdiocese will continue to provide a priest to care for Visitation B.V.M.s Vietnamese parishioners.
The Archdiocese thanks Father Gary Kramer for his pastoral service to Visitation B.V.M. parish and Father Concha, who will continue as Parochial Vicar until the end of June. We are deeply grateful to both of these fine priests for their openness and flexibility in this time of change; please keep them in your prayers. May the Lord bless Frs. Kramer and Concha as they go forward to serve the faithful of Philadelphia in new assignments.
This letter explains how the Archdiocese arrived at this very painful, yet hope-filled decision.
For over one hundred years, the parishioners of Saint Boniface parish have sacrificed to make their parish a place of reverent worship, to create excellent academic opportunities for both Catholics and non-Catholics through its elementary school, and to serve as a source of compassionate outreach for those who are poor and need food and other material necessities. Saint Boniface parish offered these services under the inspirational leadership of the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province, together with the dedicated service of many religious women and committed lay teachers, workers and volunteers.
The St. Boniface parish community continues to offer a powerful witness to the faith and face of Catholic Christianity 2,000 years after Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, the physical structures that form St. Boniface parish are not as resilient. The parishs most prominent symbol, its beautiful church, is structurally deteriorating daily, as demonstrated by the protective scaffolding now encircling the building. Its primary construction material, brownstone, has a serviceable life of 100 years. The church, built in the late 1880s, is now over 120 years old.
The Redemptorists, who own the parish buildings and property, recently commissioned a physical assessment of all the parish structures. They would need to invest close to $7 million to make the buildings safe for parish and school use. This estimate does not include any renovations beyond the immediate and basic safety and maintenance repairs. A true renovation requires significantly greater funds and would only provide a short-term solution as the brownstone structure would continue to decline; this is not wise stewardship. It is impossible to ensure the safety of these buildings for Mass, parish events, or school activities in the future. While this communitys soul, its faith life, is vibrant and strong, the physical structures are dying.
Nevertheless, the Redemptorists are completely committed to serving the people of Saint Boniface parish and the neighborhood. They have ministered to these people for over a century and wish to continue to serve them within safe physical structures appropriate for worship, community gatherings, and education those buildings that serve the heart of parish life.
St. Boniface can no longer sustain itself as a separate parish due to the declining population, the deteriorating buildings, and the enormous financial challenges. After long, serious and prayerful deliberation by the Archdiocese and the Redemptorists, it was mutually decided that Saint Boniface parish would unite with Visitation B.V.M. parish, and that Visitation B.V.M. parish will be entrusted to the Redemptorists. With Cardinal Rigalis approval, Saint Boniface parish, therefore, will be suppressed as a parish, effective June 30, 2006.
At the same time that the Redemptorists were assessing the structural stability of the St. Boniface buildings, the Archdiocese was also weighing how best to serve the students in its parish elementary schools and to maintain the enrollment levels necessary to keep Catholic education available across the Archdiocese. With its considerable financial challenges, St. Boniface School, like a number of other parish schools, could not meet the rising cost of salaries, benefits, utilities, insurance, repairs and other operational expenses through tuition and the limited parish contributions a reality we see all too often in parish schools across the United States.
Unfortunately, these facts, combined with St. Bonifaces deteriorating parish facilities, means that the Archdiocese will close Saint Boniface School at the end of this academic year, June, 2006. This is certainly sad news for the children, parents, teachers, and school administration who share a very special bond. Tomorrows future Church, our children, deserve educational opportunities that can only be properly provided when there is a clear identity, adequate enrollment, and affordable resources. Seats in our parish elementary school and neighboring schools, such as St. Peter the Apostle, will be made available to the children of St. Boniface School.
It is a time of transition and loss for two parishes; Visitation B.V. M. and St. Boniface. You, too, will know the pain of loss, and the challenges of transition with so many new faces, but with every challenge, God creates opportunities for grace.
The Redemptorist community will accept the pastoral care of Visitation B.V.M. parish on March 15, 2006. Father Lewandowski will serve as pastor of both parishes until July 1, 2006, at which time he will remain as Pastor of Visitation B.V.M. parish, and St. Boniface parish will be suppressed. Frs. Lewandowski and Cascione will live at St. Boniface rectory until June 30, 2006, at which time they will move to Visitation B.V.M. rectory.
The apostle Paul tells us that when one part of the Body of Christ suffers, all the body suffers. We know this to be true in our own lives. When we injure ourselves, our entire bodies ache. When a family member is sick, the whole family suffers as they worry and care for the one who is ill. We know this is so very true when we suffer a loss. When a family member dies, a part of us dies, too. We all grieve greatly at the loss. In its suffering the whole family seeks the consolation, compassion, and love of others to find healing and to go on.
The people of St. Boniface will lose the structural presence that nurtured and fed each individual, their community, and the neighborhood for more than 130 years. St. Boniface church holds so many memories for the people. It is the place where a husband and wife exchanged marital vows; brought their daughter to be baptized; delighted in the beautiful First Communion procession of their grandson. It was in this church that they prayed for the safe return of a son or father from Iraq; it was here that they spontaneously gathered in those dark days after September 11th. In the church of St. Boniface, generations of good people prayed for a sick child, for an unemployed spouse, or for healing a troubled relationship to lose ones church is to lose sacred memories. The church of St. Boniface is a foundation rock to people of all faiths and nationalities, a place of beauty, safety, and strength in an ever-changing world.
We know that generations of children received a very fine Catholic education at St. Boniface. Parents worked two and three jobs to provide the best education for their children. The children of St. Boniface delighted in their Christmas pageants and devotions to the Blessed Mother; parents spent countless hours helping out at their childrens school. The schools excellent staff, a wonderful principal and dedicated teachers, will lose their jobs.
Our St. Boniface brothers and sisters are suffering, and, as Catholics, we are called to do what we can to heal their broken hearts. Although the buildings of St. Boniface are in decline, the goodness and strength of that parish community is very strong in faith. They offer many gifts and talents to further enrich the Visitation B.V.M. community. Please welcome them into your parish home as you would Christ.
The Redemptorists have an excellent reputation for pastoral ministry throughout the world and for more than 150 years in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. One of our Philadelphia saints and its fourth bishop, St. John Neumann, was a Redemptorist. I believe that you, the parishioners of Visitation B.V.M., will come to love the presence of the Redemptorist religious community. You will learn more about them in the coming months, and you may visit them on the web at www.redemptorists.net.
It is a time of loss for the St. Boniface parish community, of new growth for the parishioners of Visitation B.V.M., and transition for all. As we walk toward Jerusalem during Lent, we are confident that new life in Jesus Christ, who died and rose for us, will come forth from both communities as we, an Easter people, strive to become one Body in Christ.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Joseph R. Cistone, D.D., V.G.
Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia
(Regional Bishop)
Monsignor Daniel J. Sullivan
Regional Vicar, Philadelphia-South