UPDATE: Assumption's Last Chance

Contrary to what we reported in our last post, the doddering corpse of Assumption BVM may not yet be finished. From the man-in-the-know himself, Andrew Palewski:

As most of you know, I, and several neighbors placed the Church of the Assumption on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places last year. The owner, Siloam Ministries, had been very secretive about its plans to demolish the building but we found out in time to save it and the Historical Commission stopped the building from being torn down.

Now, Siloam is applying for “hardship” with the Commission, claiming that they don’t want the church, can’t afford to fix it, and that no one wants to buy it. Several people have tried to buy the church in the last year but the owner has been tactful in dissuading them from following through (e.g. they destroyed many of the interior elements just before one buyer was about to purchase the building in July 2009).

The Hardship Committee hearing will be held on Wednesday, September 8, at 1:00 PM in room 578 at City Hall. It is open to the public.

I strongly encourage anyone who wants to see this building survive to attend this hearing. A decision will be reached that will determine the fate of the landmark.

Apparently, the approval of the Historical Commission is only the penultimate hoop Siloam has to jump through. To outright earn permission to knock Assumption down, they need to prove one of three things:

1. that it is in the public interest to do so.
2. that the owner is suffering from financial hardship and that the property can't reasonably be sold.
3. that the building itself presents a hardship (e.g. it is a danger to the public)

It is the second one Siloam will attempt to demonstrate on September 8, although they claim to have enough ammo for both #'s 2 and 3. As previous press coverage notes, both claims are dubious.

We'll see how this plays out. Assumption surprised us last year, but even cats have only nine lives; sooner or later, pending a sale or Siloam's evacuation of the property, I suspect this church and the West Poplar NAC will run out of tricks.

And yes, as Andy requests, do attend the meeting if you can.

Assumption's Death Warrant

Well, that didn't take long.

Plan Philly: Historical Commission committee OKs owner's request to demolish historic church

R.I.P., Assumption. You deserved far better than you've gotten. But unfortunately, you had the rotten luck to have two of the worst landlords around.

If you have any desire to see this place, now's the time. Knowing Siloam, demolition will take place sooner rather than later.

Assumption BVM in Danger Once More

West Poplar's Assumption BVM won historic designation last April, but as we know, that guarantees nothing. As if you needed proof, everybody's favorite HIV wellness non-profit, Siloam, is still trying to get the building knocked down.

On August 24 the organization will go again before the Philadelphia Historical Commission to claim financial hardship, saying that there are no buyers for the building and they don't have the resources to care for the dilapidated structure. Andrew Palewski and the West Poplar NAC will almost certainly oppose, yet again.

Plan Philly: Without a buyer, historic church remains in limbo

The Project: It's clearer now than ever before that Siloam never wanted the property and has been doing everything in their power to get rid of it. Most damning is the fact that, even with an interested buyer, they proceeded with a callous interior demolition that destroyed most of the remaining ornamentation and made it significantly harder to sell.

(It's equally amazing that said ornamentation, including plaster, was more or less still intact in 2009. As the Project opined when we first visited the church, they really did know how to build them back then.)

Andrew, if you're reading, please keep us posted.

How to Obtain Church Records

It's not hard, really. But some people fail to grasp the concept. Case in point, the following reader whose name will be withheld for her own sake:

I am trying to get some information that would be in St. Henry's Church records. I see from the internet that they are at Incarnation Church, but do not know how to access that information.

I get a lot of e-mails like this, so for the sake of my sanity, let's answer this question once and for all.

1. Find out which church has the records. If it's a Roman Catholic church, go to http://archphila.org/parishes/index.htm to look it up; if the parish is closed, they will tell you which one currently holds the records. When it doubt, or when dealing with a Protestant parish, use a search engine.

2. Contact them. They have all telephone numbers. Call them and see what magical things happen. You may even be able to send them an e-mail.

See? Wasn't that easy? I hate to get condescending, but you would too when confronted with a barrage of e-mails that can easily be answered in 5 minutes via Google search. Or even Yahoo! or another lesser search engine.

So please, DON'T ASK ME AGAIN ABOUT RECORDS. I have no more insight or resources on this than you or Google, and all I'll do is repeat the advice provided above. And if the church won't answer you, I'm sorry. No, I don't know their secretary by name.

Now, in this specific e-mail, the reader--let's call her Mabel--already did the hard work. She found out, quite correctly, that St. Henry was Swath'd in 1993 and transferred its records to Incarnation of Our Lord. But when confronted with the news that Incarnation has the records, and contact information pointing to Incarnation, she throws up her hands in a tizzy.

Mabel, parish records will not just jump out of your computer at you. Here's an idea: the same place that tells you that Incarnation has the records will no doubt offer a telephone number. Pick it up and call them. I imagine the conversation could go something like this:

Ringy Dingy

:INCARNATION: Lift high the cross! Thank you for calling Incarnation of Our Lord parish! How may I help you?

:MABEL: Ah, yes, hi, I'd like to inquire about some spiritual records from the old St. Henry parish.

:INCARNATION: Oh yes, we certainly do! Such a shame about that parish, don't you think? Just hold one moment please and then I'll get all of your information and see what we can do for you.

Even if they're not especially polite, and some secretaries aren't, they should still be able to get you exactly what you need. Easy, huh? They may also have a website and e-mail address, so you could even contact them through e-mail, the same thing you used to contact me.

Legitimate requests will still be honored. But anything approaching this will result in a visit from the Project's tire iron. No, it's not just used to rate neighborhood safety.

You have all been warned.

Change and Growth

It's been a while since we've had a good Catholic Standard & Times story, and lucky for you all that ends right now.

A recent feature from the venerable CS&T, "Numbers Tell of Change, Growth," takes a surprisingly frank look at the demographic and geographic shifts of the Roman Catholic population in the area. It's still not completely honest with itself or with us, and for every point they earn for being upfront, they lose two for getting lost in their own babble. As usual.

Some of the more interesting highlights:

In the case of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the big movement for Catholics has been from the city to the suburbs.

No @$#%.

Nothing underscored this Catholic flight to the suburbs like the 2008 closing of West Philadelphia’s Most Blessed Sacrament, a former mega-parish which once had the largest parochial school in the nation.

I'd think a bigger sign would be the 16 parishes you had to close in North Philadelphia, most of them happening 15 years earlier, but sure, whatever.

The suburbs are not totally immune to these population shifts either.

Don't even go there.

As a matter of fact, according to the 2009 October Count, the Archdiocese’s 10 largest parishes in terms of registration are now located in the suburbs.

Again, no @$#%.

Although there has been a decline in infant baptisms, there has been an increase in baptisms of young children and teens, and beginning this year the Office for Research and Planning has factored in these later baptisms to show a ratio of 1.33 for every funeral reported.

“I believe the new ratio employing all the baptisms represents a more accurate picture of how the Catholic population is replacing itself through baptism,” said Dr. Robert J. Miller, director of the Research and Planning Office.

Interesting. But....

Less encouraging is the overall Mass attendance figure, which according to the statistics has dropped from 390,500 in 1994 to 283,245 in 2009.

So you get them, but you're not keeping them. Got it.

Although the number of priests have declined, the 2010 archdiocesan Catholic Directory shows Masses are now celebrated in more than 20 different languages, including Latin and American Sign Language.

Someone needs to go back and take Logic 101. The second part of that statement in no way counteracts or balances the damning facts of the first. And someone will have to celebrate all these new masses, right?

Like I said, one step forward, two steps back. Most damning is the lack of any real context or substance for these numbers. It's nice to see them acknowledge the decline in city attendance and the number of priests, but what are you doing to address it? Data is good, but data without analysis and action is worthless.

Let me know when you get around that.

What Can't the Project Do?

The Project's reach extends far and wide, as evidenced by the following letter from reader Michelle H:

Dear Philly Church Project, I have never been to Philadelphia. However, a few months ago, I stumbled across your website when doing research on Philadelphia. At the time, I was in the process of applying to go to a graduate school in Philly and was doing some research on the city. Now, I am indeed going to grad school in Philly! I have been studying the website to learn about the different churches and I am really looking forward to seeing these beautiful (mostly old) churches. I have even made a list of the ones I intend to visit.

I hail from Seattle where our church architecture cannot hold a candle to Philadelphia's. Seattle does have several nice ornate churches (mostly from between the 1880s and 1920s), but being a younger and smaller city, we have far fewer than Philly has. On the plus side, there are far fewer abandoned churches in Seattle than in Philly. I can't think of a single Catholic parish that is no longer in existence (although I'm in my mid-20s, so maybe some closings happened before my time.) Having grown up in a parish with a beautiful Italian Tuscan-style church dating from around 1910, the church building is an important part of where I choose to worship. Attending services in an older, pretty church is much more meaningful than in a modern church that looks modern.

I'll be in Philadelphia in a couple of weeks and will start my church-viewing then. I think I might be attending a couple of Sunday masses, one at the parish I choose to attend and another one at a different church so I can see that church's architecture. Thanks so much for all of the work you do. If I take some good pictures or learn good information, I'll pass it along to the Project.

Ok, so Michelle doesn't come right out and say that we're responsible for bringing her here, but come on. We're just that darn good. What, you think she'd base her decision on trivial things like education and city amenities? Please.

On a more serious note, let's applaud her decision to seek out a church with appropriate architecture. But architecture, as wonderful as it is, isn't by itself a religious means to an end. You can have boring masses in beautiful churches the same as you can have exciting masses in ugly churches. Trust me, I've seen both.

The key is to find a parish that's both structurally beautiful and ecclesiastically engaging. Hint: focus on the poorer areas. Well-to-do neighborhoods put you at too much risk for the Hot Girl Principle, and believe me, you do not want to go there.

The Philadelphia Church Project's Bottom 10: #2

It's mano a mano as the top two round into form. One earns an eternity of infamy; the other...well, they earn slightly less infamy. Regardless, who will win (or lose, rather) this knock-down, drag-out affair?

That's to be announced. But the runner-up goes to:

#2: St. Stephen

Why They're Here:

Good God, so many reasons. In no particular order, one of the ugliest exteriors we've ever seen; a completely botched Tabula Rasa that turned Philadelphia's first Gothic church into a modern reflecting pool of misery; and a strangely holier-than-thou attitude that prevented yours truly from taking pictures.

The latter really boils my holy water, since out of the hundred or so churches we've seen, this is the only one that has had a problem. Get over yourselves. And no, I won't be your friend. I refuse to be a party to any church that won't have my camera as a member. Or something like that.

The photography issue is one thing, but this really comes down to the botched decor. No current pictures exist, but again, not out fault. Besides, the vintage images we reproduced are far better than anything you'd see nowadays.

Why They're Not Lower:

Not much, really. It's just that the #1 church has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Transfiguration's Windows

From one closed parish to another. It's been a while since we've talked about Transfiguration of Our Lord, and I know youse guys just can't get enough of that.

From the mailbag:

I wanted to let you know that the large Transfiguration window, as
well as two smaller windows have been restored and are now located at
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Cottonwood Arizona. The two
smaller windows are of Moses parting the Red Sea and of The Sacred
Heart with Adam and Eve.

These windows have been attributed to F.X. Zettler. I'm wondering if
you can confirm that for me.

Immaculate Conception also has a series of stained glass windows
reportedly from the lower section of Transfiguration. These windows
were supposed to go to California, but came to Arizona instead. These
windows are a different style than the aforementioned windows. They
are of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Seven Sacraments, the
Spiritual Works of Mercy and the Corporal Works of Mercy. Do you
know who the artist(s) was who fashioned this windows?

It is heartbreaking to see what happened to Transfiguration. I would
like to invite your readers to visit Immaculate Conception when
visiting Arizona so that they can once again enjoy these beautiful
windows.

Well, that's good to know, I guess. If anyone's ever in Cottonwood, Arizona, check the place out. Immaculate Conception actually has some pictures of their new church. The interface is unwieldy, but you can definitely confirm that Transy's choir window now graces the apse of the new sanctuary. Not a bad design choice, actually.

Oh, and yes, the stained glass artist. The excellent parish history and news materials provided to me by one Joe Kearney mention the windows as coming from "the world famous Zettler stained glass in Munich." It's a pretty good bet that's the same Zettler you refer to.

The Future and the Past

One reader's e-mail kick-starts an intriguing line of thought:

First i just want to say thank you so much for showcasing the beautiful architecture of the wonderful churches in Philly and the surrounding area. I am a member of the young and rapidly growing Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Parish.

We have just begun our Capital Campaign to bring forth our contribution to the wonderful architecture of Philly Churches. I am happy to inform you that our Pastor Father Paul Brant is much involved in this project and shares our love of beautiful churches in the surrounding area. Because of this BTC will have what i call a modern Gothic style church. Gothic in appearance but modern in the sense of lighting, technology, fire, and security.

I am also very happy to confirm to you that our back, and front main alter are coming from St Boniface Parish. They are currently being cleaned and repaired then stored untill instalation in the new church, hopefuly there final home. Some if not most of our stained glass is coming form St. Bontiface as well, along with pieces from the old St. Peter's church in Pottstown Pa. There are also wood and religious items that where saved from St. Boniface and will be incorporated into the final design of our new parish. It is sad that such a magnificent structure had to be lossed in St. Boniface, but i am glad to see that the objects that once gave there parishioners so much joy can continue to be used and to bring awe to future generations.

once again thank you for all you do and please continue your good work

Is the Project wrong for not being happy about this? I don't know. I should be, probably, glad that the artifacts are not only getting used, but used in this area. Kind of like how the remnants of Most Blessed Sacrament will find new life at St. Bede the Venerable in Holland. Would anyone be served for them to collect dust in some Archdiocesan warehouse?

No, of course not. Yet, I can't help but view a letter like this with equal parts sadness and anger. Good for the parishioners of Blessed Theresa, but bad for mostly everybody else who was ever involved with St. Boniface.

The church those artifacts belong to, lest we forget, is still rotting at Diamond & Hancock streets in West Kensington. One parish's sparkling new hopes is another parish's crushed dreams. And one church's rise does not negate another church's fall, regardless of how many old relics they cram into it. Especially when that modern new building, artifacts or no, will never equal the grandeur and artistry of the old one.

I wish Blessed Theresa well, and my tone shouldn't make you think otherwise. I just find it hard to muster any kind of a celebration. Unless you belong to Blessed Theresa, you probably do, too.