Neither Fair...Nor a Hill

Right after mentioning Fairhill's late, lamented St. Bonaventure in my last post, the Project received the following letter. As Freud would say, how uncanny.

Thank you for the pictures and report on St. Bonaventure Church. I was raised in that parish and attended the school for eight years. Your report brings back a lot memories. I remember the May processions where we processed from the school to the church and attending daily mass there when I attended the school. I also remember the bad, when there were riots not far from there and you could see the smoke from neighborhoods burning. I have gone to goggled maps and see that my old house is still standing but that of my Aunts is now an empty lot. My family moved from the area in 1966, one week before I entered a convent near Buffalo, NY.

I am curious as to why you call it “Fairhill.” We always referred to that part of the city as “North Phila.”

I hope the Church will be able to restored and used for good. Even the “Bad Lands” need a beacon of hope.

Thank you again for the article.

God’s blessings to you.

Sr. Mary Walheim osf

A letter from a nun? Oh boy, I'd better be on my best behavior, lest I receive a ruler across the knuckles.

First, I'm not engaging in any more neighborhood arguments, so let's just nip that in the bud. I'll tell you what I tell everyone else: I go with the consensus of the current planning definitions. What you called it 40 years ago is interesting but ultimately irrelevant.

Now, on to the really exciting stuff. I believe she's referring to the 1964 Philadelphia race riots, which basically put the nail in North Philadelphia's coffin. It destroyed the commercial districts of many of the major avenues, sparked a hasty and massive white flight, and, thanks to ineffective tactics by the Philadelphia police, engendered a culture of violence, abandonment and distrust that largely still exists today.

If you know little or nothing about the riot, look it up. I'm not going to go on record and say it's the cause of North Philly's current predicament, because Lord knows there are plenty of other factors. But it played a very large role, and it's a good bet the whole area would be in much better shape today had the police been able to put the kibosh on it.

Anyway, it's interesting to hear such specific historical memories, and the Project thanks Sister Mary for sharing them.

Speaking of sharing, though, we don't share her optimism about the church's future. We hope, yes, but unfortunately Bonaventure is quite dead. That place isn't getting restored. Even if you subtract 17 years of unabated decay, no investor is going to be sold on that area. I don't even know how the church is still standing, but the Project is betting that it collapses from neglect long before people with money see any worth in the neighborhood.

Fairhill might yet see a new day. But that church, that parish, that building will not have a second act.

RIP, St. Bonnie's.

Who Owns These Things, Anyway?

You remember Matthew Murray, right? He was the abandonedamerica.org photographer who did such a great job shooting Transfiguration of Our Lord, right before it met the business end of a wrecking ball.


Anyway, since Matthew is into abandoned churches, the Project clued him in to some other specimens he should look at--namely, Assumption BVM, St. Boniface, St. Bonaventure and Most Blessed Sacrament. Yes, four of our old favorites.

Look he did, but since Assumption is the only one that has a visible owner--you remember, the nice HIV group that tried to knock it down--he was unable to gain access to the others.

To help him, and by extension us, the Project poses the following question: does anyone know who owns the three properties in question? I don't, and I don't really have the time to go sniffing around for the answer. Besides, there's nothing better than reader contributions. It lets me know you all care!

Drop the Project a line.

More Fame and Fortune

The Project loves getting quoted as an authority. Especially when the quoter doesn't even bother contacting us.

Case in point: this March 19 article from The Bulletin, a sort of reincarnation of the once-famous Philadelphia Bulletin.

The article concerns itself mostly with Assumption BVM, but at the end it weirdly shifts perspective to good 'ole St. Boniface. There it uses information that is pretty much copied directly from our recent Echoes of St. Boniface post, albeit phrased as if they actually talked to us. They didn't, in case you're wondering.

Oh well. At least they're good enough to attribute us as the source, and the Project never, ever turns down free press.

Northeast Takeover Redux

Believe it or not, the Project hasn't bashed the Archdiocese in nearly three months! Of course, every dog has its day, and the 'ole AD has pretty much stayed out of trouble since then. Until, that is, the following story crossed our desk.

Put on your angry hats, because this is really going to get your blood a-boilin'....

An eye-opening column in Friday's Inquirer highlights just how tragically fraudulent the AD has become. I'll let you read the column for yourselves, but to quickly summarize:

The wealthy and well-connected North alumni group, the Friends of Northeast Catholic High School (FONECHS) have recognized (as the Project did) that closing North for even a year will be a large blow to the community. They've asked the AD to keep it open for one more year so there can be a seamless transition to the Cristo Rey takeover.

Not a bad idea, you say. Yes, but here's the real kicker: they've offered to underwrite all of the school's debt for the extra year in addition to buying the building, so it will cost the Archdiocese nothing. Win-win all around, right?

Wrong. The AD's incomprehensible response: No thanks. We're "ready to move on."

Let that sink in a minute.

With an opportunity to benefit the neighborhood AND save face, the AD instead has pretty much chosen to spit in the eyes of those they're supposed to help. And in case that doesn't make you angry enough, FONECHS says they've already been underwriting all of the school's debt for at least the past five years. Hence, North was hasn't been in any way a drain on the AD's resources, so there was no reason to close it in the first place.

The Project has said enough in the past year, so there's nothing really left for us to add to this. Except to say, if you in any way still defend or support this organization, you're backing the wrong horse. Their true colors have never shined brighter than they are right now, and there's no longer any defense for their behavior.

If there ever was, that is.

Northeast Catholic Takeover Delayed

From churches to schools, for one brief minute:

According to Tuesday's Philadelphia Inquirer, plans for the Cristo Rey takeover of Northeast Catholic has been delayed. The new school cannot and will not open in time for Fall 2010; those involved are now working toward Fall 2011, meaning there will be a gap of at least a year between its closure and probable / potential reopening.

Many thanks to Project reader Mary Beth Kearney for the link.

The Project says: Not the best of news, certainly, but the group's optimism is something to hold on to. The minimum year delay might really hurt, though, as students who planned to stay will now have to make alternate arrangements--and may not come back. The commitment to quality is certainly laudable, but would they have been better off just getting the place open as soon as possible to ensure less educational flight from the area? I wonder.

One curious note is that the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, who currently staff the school, will sponsor the new iteration and help with the transition. But does that mean they will stay on staff? Cristo Rey schools are usually Jesuit, so it poses an interesting dilemma. Does the school remain Salesian? Or Jesuit? Or some strange hybrid of both?

Regardless, the school is probably on the path to salvation. But what about the other closure, Olney's Cardinal Dougherty? Last I heard, the We Are CD Foundation had made an offer to buy it, but there has been no news since. Has anyone heard anything? Let us know.

The Echoes of St. Boniface

Abandoned churches have been very good to the Project as of late, so why not keep it going?

And what better way to do so by featuring, once again in this space ladies and gentlemen, West Kensington's St. Boniface, one of our very special Churches that Won't Die. Project reader Robert Masciantonio proves that to be true by offering us yet another e-mail about the place. But wait--this one has photographs of the interior, taken in January 2009.

Abandoned interior pics of the stately St. Boniface? And its associated buildings? The Project is so there. Lay on, Macduff!

What intrigues the Project most about abandoned churches isn't what they remove, although a scarred and stripped interior holds a certain melancholy fascination. No, it's what they--what we--leave behind.

In this case, a pile of books on a table. A crucifix. A broken clock. A chunk of intricately sculpted marble. It's provocative and sad, all of it.

This stuff isn't to the level of Matthew Murray's Abandoned America, but it's still quite good, and even better to share with all of you. Especially since, if the Project's sources are correct, this place is next on the demolition derby.

Cherish, weep and think of what might be. And would could have (and should have) been.

Mailbag 13

Yes, we're still alive. Apologies for the alarming lack of activity over the past week and a half. So much for our resolution, eh?

To start to make it up to you, dear readers, here's a recent note from our mailbag. And because the subject asks a lot of questions, our responses are spliced in.

Hello,

I like your Philadelphia Church Project. I have a few comments.

Good, because if you didn't I wouldn't be printing your letter right now. Just kidding. (Or am I?)

Re the Immaculate Conception church in the Germantown area.....I was
shocked when I read that the priest asked you to stand up and introduce
yourselves in the middle of Mass. How Protestant! Where did that creepy
custom come from?

I wouldn't call the custom creepy--just inconvenient. And I wouldn't call it Protestant, either, since they haven't yet made us do it once.

Regardless, said custom is borne out of desperation. It's no coincidence it's almost found exclusively in our Fat Girl parishes. Simply put, they're starved for attention from the outside world. And when they get it, especially from people who seem "out of place," so to speak, they naturally want to know more. Their insistence on doing it in front of everybody is an extension of a carefully cultivated sense of community: mass isn't a collection of strangers, it's a family.

Also, in your review of Holy Name in Fishtown, I was
startled to read that the priest interrupts the mass and tried
to be oh so cool with casual shout outs and so forth. Wow,
how ignorant. No wonder people are flocking back to the
Traditional Latin Mass. This Novus Ordo stuff is so
pedestrian.

Did you ever draw a connection between these practices and the
fact that many of these congregations are failing? The reason why
Catholics have stayed away from the Mass in droves since Vatican
II? Just a thought. There may be a connection. Look, we get shout outs
in the street or in the theater, we don't need pedestrian stuff in church.

Your attitude toward the current Roman Catholic mass depends almost entirely on your generation. Those born and worshipping before Vatican II generally revere the Tridentine mass as the be-all and end-all. Those born after, like the Project, have no problems whatsoever with the current format. The Project's grandmother, for example, falls into the former category. And never lets us forget it!

But honestly, a mass is only as beautiful and reverent as the people who celebrate it. Those who praise formality and condemn informality should remember that. The Project has had informal mass experiences that left us speechless, and formal mass experiences that left us empty inside. It's not the language you use, it's the passion and love behind said language.

As for Vatican II, you raise an interesting point. The Roman Catholic Church's slow decline in its wake can indeed be traced to Vatican II, but not in the way you might think.

If you haven't read it, I recommend Peter Steinfels' excellent book A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Catholic Church in America. Steinfels, a longtime New York Times columnist, lays out a pretty broad and compelling analysis for what is often seen as a rudderless ship.

One of his points, and it's one the Project agrees with, is that Vatican II did create the Church's current predicament. But it's not because the reforms weren't overdue and crucial to religion's future survival--they were, and still are. It's because of the way they were handled. Prior to Vatican II, the Church hadn't changed much throughout it's entire existence. And suddenly, you're going to uproot everything and change the entire face of Church overnight?

Such a monumental shift needed to be done slowly and deliberately. By simply flicking a switch and expecting the faithful to just up and abandon hundreds of years of tradition, the Church undermined its own authority and drove scores of people away. Those people didn't pass the faith on to their offspring, and the rot continues to this day.

There as other critical factors, such as the sex abuse scandal and the Church's own increasing isolation on matter of social policy, but Vatican II did indeed have a profound and lasting impact, much of it negative.

(And the fact that its liturgical reforms convinced many parishes to rip up their stately interior architecture drives the Project all kinds of crazy.)

As for the Eastern Catholic church in NL, Immaculate Conception, I was
there, the people are friendly. Icy stares? Try going to an orthodox church,
talk about ice! But you don't mention the nuances of the Eastern liturgy, the
beauty of it--NO shout outs! Also, communion is on a spoon does
not touch your lips--it is dropped into your mouth. Why were you such a Fussy Wussy and afraid to receive? Come on, grow up a little!

You give the impression that that eastern Catholic church is very plain. It is not, really, compared to many modern Catholic churches, which resembled SHOUT OUT Baptist churches. The icons are impressive. And they incense!

At the time, the Project couldn't tell that the spoon doesn't touch the mouth, so it's a logical reaction to someone unfamiliar with the practice. Taking something from someone's hand is much different than sharing a spoon with dozens of strangers. Even given our newfound understanding of the rite, it's not something we're inclined to do. Whether or not we do, though, is not a matter of maturity or immaturity--simply personal preference.

And by the way, we've been to one Eastern Church so far. There are no doubt ones out there that are very ornate. The Cathedral is not one of them.

Keep up the good work--oh by the way the abbreviation for saints is SS> not Sts.
and when you mention the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, you should have said ICON.

One of the results of doing nearly 100 reviews is that we don't have a photographic memory of everything we've ever said. I can't pinpoint when said errors were supposedly made, so please be more specific.