Assumption BVM Photo Set

Proving that good things do come to those who wait, Abandonedamerica.us super photographer Matthew Murray has posted his long-awaited photo set of the battle zone that was once one of Philly's greatest churches, Assumption BVM.

Was it worth it? A look at the above image should tell you all you need to know.

Abandonedamerica.us: Assumption BVM

The set is apparently still something of a work in progress, so more images may appear somewhere down the line. What's here is still plenty, however, and it beautifully reinforces the sad, tragic majesty of this place.

The Project, for one, is interested to see that the station of the cross frames were left behind. And we're still amazed to see the apse stained glass windows never left. Given that it's far better than anything you see today, could you really find no other place for it, Archdiocese? And the fact that it's still miraculously intact is, well, kind of miraculous.

Great, great stuff as usual.

St. Gregory Fire

A note and some news from Philly transplant Michelle H:

While spending the holidays in my hometown of Seattle, I could not resist checking philly.com in order to stay on top of the news in my home away from home. It was on philly.com that I heard about the fire at the Global Leadership Academy on Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia. Having passed the school numerous times on the 10 trolley, I knew exactly where it was. Given its proximity to the former St. Gregory Roman Catholic Church, I had always assumed that the building was formerly the parish school. It was still a bit of a shock to see the burnt building with my own eyes when I rode the 10 trolley for the first time in 2011 on this slushy of Tuesday, January 18th. With the sign for the charter school no longer in place, the school’s former name was plainly in view: ST. GREGORY’S PARISH SCHOOL.

I had been contemplating taking photos in order to send them to the Church Project, but was not sure when I’d actually do it. As fate would have it, the trolley operator ordered off all of the passengers (for some reason) about a block away from the school. (That's the second or third time that's happened to a bus or trolley I was riding since I moved to Philly in August.) I took the chance to take some photos before catching the next trolley.

The area where the school and church are located is called Cathedral Park. When one takes Lancaster through Cathedral Park and the nearby neighborhoods of Mill Creek, Belmont, and Mantua (although to a lesser extent because Mantua is gentrifying), there is a great deal of blight and the area certainly appears to be ghetto or ghetto-like. Nonetheless, I have walked on portions of Lancaster Avenue in these areas many times during the day in order to catch the bus or trolley and have neither experienced any problems nor seen anything dangerous. My point is that for any readers who have any connection to the school and want to see it, they should not be afraid to do so. Of course, watch your back and be aware of your surroundings, but you need not be afraid of being killed. I saw a truck on the property on Wednesday and, although I have no evidence to confirm this, my gut instinct is that the City may tear down the building in the near future.

On a final note, when one travels on Lancaster Avenue from Overbrook toward Center City, one will pass the former St. Gregory (currently in use by another denomination), then Our Lady of Angels, and finally, Our Mother of Sorrows. None are technically on Lancaster, but they are all clearly in view. Additionally, all three are within close proximity to each other. Perhaps it could be another church alley? It is sad to see the school in its burnt state, especially in a neighborhood that already has a lot of blight. Nonetheless, the exterior of the former St. Gregory Church is gorgeous and appears to be in good condition.

For your reference, her excellent pictures of the damage appear at the end of this post. What I see is not pretty, and I'd be very surprised if the building isn't torn down. An inglorious end for the former St. Gregory school. And sad news for the Global Leadership Academy, but the Philadelphia School District has offered them temporary accommodations, and they were already planning to move to a new building for the 2011-2012 school year.

The Project, too, has passed the former St. Gregory a couple of times via train, and the exterior is indeed still impressive. The interior? Well, we won't know until we go. There's a reason the St. Cyprian Effect exists.

P.S. Picture 4 is our favorite. Sad, creepy and poignant.

Win One for the Little Guys (and Gals)!

Nothing is ever easy in Camden, is it? Leave it to them to turn something simple into something, well....keep reading.

As you may remember, a few years back the Camden Diocese announced a sweeping plan to close or consolidate nearly half their parishes. Take that, North Philadelphia Swath of Destruction and Year of Hell! Ha!

One of those parishes, St. Mary, was closed early and without fanfare--sans farewell mass or anything--due to supposed boiler problems. But as luck--or more likely, Diocesan stupidity--would have it, the building was left unlocked. So in response to the closing, a small group of parishioners have taken up residence in the church to protest.

More detail below:

Philadelphia Inquirer: Parishioners hold out in shuttered church

NBC Philadelphia: NJ Parishioners Protest Church Closing

All jokes aside, you have to admire this kind of gumption. The parishioners have even started a campaign, Save St. Mary's Malaga, and the alleged malfunctioning boiler has been fixed. All good, right? Right?

As we all know by now, any (Arch)Diocese never changes its mind about such things. Whatever they decide, that's the rule, regardless of what the aftermath might be. I'm not entirely versed on the rationale behind closing St. Mary's in the first place (if there was any), but any logical organization would have to look at this and reconsider. I mean, hell, if parishioners are willing to camp out for an unlimited amount of time to keep the place around, then they certainly seem capable enough to keep the parish afloat.

Logic, sadly, doesn't apply to these matters. And while the Diocese currently hums that it has no plans to do anything about the squatters, we all know that's going to change quickly, especially as this becomes a bigger story.

For what it's worth, the Project salutes you, parishioners, and wishes you well. One word of warning, though: decide now just far you want to take this, because it will escalate faster and more dramatically than you may realize, and you'll have to make some tough choices.

Look no further than the story of St. Louis' St. Stanislaus Kostka Church. Lengthy and ongoing battles with the Archdiocese of St. Louis and a succession of archbishops (including our own Cardinal Rigali!) over control and closing led parishioners to break away and essentially form their own church. They've all pretty much been excommunicated, and their new sect has developed some interesting progressive slants, but you know what?

They still have their building. In this day and age, that's saying something.