OCTOBER 2002
CLUSTER 33 PARISHES CONTINUE WORK TO IMPLEMENT PLAN
(Parish Release - 10/12-13/02)
CLUSTER 33 / PHILADELPHIA-SOUTH VICARIATE
| St. Agatha-St. James St. Barnabas St. Clement St. Cyprian |
St. Francis de Sales Good Shepherd St. Irenaeus Most Blessed Sacrament |
Cluster 33 welcomes Father Robert Feeney, parochial administrator of St. Clement Parish, and Father Thomas Nasta, pastor of St. Irenaeus Parish. They were appointed in June 2002.
Since the closure of Good Shepherd and Most Blessed Sacrament parish elementary schools, it has been reported that the overwhelming majority of the students from these schools relocated in other parish elementary schools within Cluster 33. We commend Fathers J. Thomas Heron and Roland Slobogin, Sisters Joan Ames, I.H.M. and Stella Mary O'Brien, R.S.M., their staffs, faculties, parents and students for the countless hours and hard work they put into the decision process and transition period.
Each month (September through June) a Cluster 33 Calendar is issued and distributed to the parishioners of the eight parishes of the Cluster. Please consult this calendar when looking for liturgies and events which may not be happening in your own parish.
Monsignor John Conway, Vicar for Philadelphia-South, attended a recent meeting of the St. Barnabas Parish Pastoral Council. He announced that, upon the retirement of their pastor, Monsignor Bernard Herron, in June 2003, two priests would be assigned to the parish instead of three. According to criteria set in 2000 for the evaluation of the two worship sites of St. Barnabas Parish (namely, St. Mary of Czestochowa and Our Lady of Loreto), reduction of the number of clergy would be a major consideration. In light of Monsignor Conway's announcement, therefore, Pastoral Council members agreed that these worship sites be closed. At their September 30, 2002 meeting, the Cluster 33 Advisory Council supported this decision. It has been determined that the closing liturgy at each worship site will take place on June 1, 2003. Soon, work will be underway among the people of the worship sites and St. Barnabas Parish clergy and staff towards making the last holidays and feasts, as well as the closing liturgies, very special celebrations.