ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA
CLUSTER 33 PARISHES WORK TOGETHER TO IMPLEMENT PLAN

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
January 10, 2000

Contact: Rev. Msgr. John T. Conway
Regional Vicar, Philadelphia-South
215-476-7484

Rev. Vito J. Carbone
Pastor, Our Lady of Loreto Parish
215-726-5221

Rev. Msgr. Bernard J. Herron
Pastor, St. Barnabas Parish
Administrator, St. Mary of Czestochowa
215-726-1119

CLUSTER 33 / PHILADELPHIA-SOUTH VICARIATE

Our Lady of Loreto School to Close in June 2000 and Three Parishes to be Restructured

Members of the Cluster 33Tri-Parish Planning Committee and the Pastors of Our Lady of Loreto, St. Barnabas and St. Mary of Czestochowa announce that Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua, Archbishop of Philadelphia, has accepted and approved the Committee's recommendations to close Our Lady of Loreto Parish School and to restructure Our Lady of Loreto Parish, St. Mary of Czestochowa Parish and Saint Barnabas Parish.

These recommendations came in response to Goal #3 of the Cluster 33 Pastoral Plan, which the Cardinal accepted in March 1998. Goal #3 called for the Cluster "to respond to a decrease in Catholic population and an increase in financial burdens." A specially-formed "Tri-Parish Planning Committee" (TPPC) proposed the following recommendations, accepted by the Cardinal:

• That there be one elementary school, St. Barnabas School, 64^th Street and Buist Avenue, in Southwest Philadelphia
• That Our Lady of Loreto School, 2412 S. 62^nd Street, in Southwest Philadelphia close in June of 2000. (St. Mary of Czestochowa School closed in 1994)
• That there be one parish, St. Barnabas, with additional worship sites at Our Lady of Loreto and St. Mary of Czestochowa (a worship site is an additional sacred building (church) of the parish used for Sunday mass and where funeral masses could also be permitted)
• That this new structure be evaluated on a regular basis

The Tri-Parish Planning Committee recommendations came after a long, thoughtful process following an in-depth feasibility study, which included consultation with Parish Pastoral and Finance Councils as well as school parents, faculty and parishioners. The Pastors and TPPC considered many factors. First and foremost were the spiritual and pastoral needs of parishioners as well as the educational interests of the children attending Our Lady of Loreto.

Other factors related to the closure of Our Lady of Loreto Parish School:

• Enrollment:
• Enrollment has dropped steadily in recent years. In the 1995/96 school year, enrollment was 239. Enrollment in the current school year is 145, down 39.6 percent. Building capacity is 260.
• There are only 10 students in the second grade; 10 students in the third grade.
• Projections indicate enrollment will continue to drop dramatically from 146 students currently to 60 students (total school population) in 2003

• Finances:
• The Parish Pastoral Council, the Parish Finance Council and the Home and School Board all agree that Our Lady of Loreto Parish does not have sufficient funds nor a sufficient number of parishioners to support the parish and school
• The Archdiocese is currently subsidizing Our Lady of Loreto Parish
• The declining number of students is increasing per pupil costs and tuition
• Since1995, tuition at Our Lady of Loreto has increased an average of eight to ten percent per year and is projected to reach a level beyond the means of the average parish family

Other factors related to the restructuring of Our Lady of Loreto Parish, St. Barnabas Parish and St. Mary of Czestochowa Parish:
.Demographics:

• There has been a dramatic decline in the total number of registered families in the three parishes, from 10,254 in 1995 to 6,683 currently
• Since 1996, the number of funerals has far exceeded the number of baptisms and projections indicate the trend will continue

No decision has been made regarding the status of the Our Lady of Loreto school building or rectory. Current students (145) enrolled in Our Lady of Loreto will have the opportunity to attend St. Barnabas Catholic School.

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Editor's Note: There are two attachments to this release: the official letter from the Regional Vicar, notifying the Pastors about Cardinal Bevilacqua's acceptance and approval of the Pastors' and the Committee's recommendations and an explanation of the Cluster Planning Process.