Save the First Black American Catholic Church In Philadelphia! (Pittsburgh: sale, transfer)

[JimfromPennsyl]

Two days ago CBS news in recognition of Black History Month ran a piece about the closing of St. Peter Claver Church at 12th and Lombard Street in Philadelphia, the Mother Church of the Black Catholic community in Philadelphia. They reported how there is a small group of Black Catholics who are fighting the closure and sale of St. Peter Claver's that they believe this church is a vital part of the history of Black Catholics in Philadelphia and deserves to be saved. I find their efforts moving and don't think the Archdiocese has made the effort it should have and could to save this Church!




In the 1880's when the St. Peter Claver Church building was purchased Black Catholics faced unwelcomeness and discrimination in parishes in the Archdiocese and did not have a parish of their own like other ethnic groups. The Church building that would become St. Peter Claver's was acquired with the help of Saint Mother Katherine Drexel who during her life with her order did a lot of great work educating and helping Black Americans in numerous areas across the nation. When St. Peter Claver Church was dedicated in 1892 Father Augustus Tolton from Chicago participated in the day's events. Father Augustus Tolton was the first Black American to be ordained a priest he endured a lot of struggle to become and work as a priest being rejected by America's seminaries he had to go to Rome to study and be ordained and thinking he would go to an African country to minister in a country of his own ethnic background instead he was sent back to America to the Diocese of Quincy where he grew up which offered no shield for he experienced rejection there where upon he was transferred to the Diocese of Chicago and as it turned out a year after his assistance with the opening of St. Peter Claver he was through an extraordinary effort able to open up the first Black Catholic Church in Chicago, St. Monica's Church. Father Tolton is on the ladder of the Catholic Church to become canonized a Saint having already been decreed "Venerable" by Pope Francis in 2019. A fair evaluation of the historic value of St. Peter Claver Church to the Black American community would deem it significant and worth saving!




There exists a reasonable path for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to try to keep St. Peter Claver's open which hasn't been tried. The Archdiocese when they are having trouble maintaining the opening of a Parish they invite in a religious order to take over the Parish. To name a few parishes put on this course would be: St. John the Evangelist Parish in downtown Philly with the Capuchin Franciscan Order, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish In West Philly with the Mercedarian Order and St. Patrick's Parish in Center City Philly with the Dominicans Order. What the Archdiocese needs to do is to get an Order of Black priests to take over St. Peter Claver's Church; an order of black priests would naturally relate to and have a connection with the Catholic Black community in Philadelphia which could result in getting this community to utilize St. Peter Claver's ministries and thus create a strong Parish. Maybe there isn't such a black religious order that would be interested in taking over St. Peter Claver’s but one would think that it would be possible and worth the try to find such an order in Africa for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has an abundance of Black priests from Africa come and work at various parishes in the Archdiocese and over the years many black seminarians from Africa have come and studied at the Archdiocese seminary.




Granted it would be a little unique and challenging the ministry model needed for the St. Peter Claver Church to succeed, this Order of Black Priests would have to sign onto a model where the parish would not only have to serve the local neighborhood but also offer to serve the entire Black Catholic community throughout the Archdiocese because the draw of parishioners and supporters from the local neighborhood would not be enough to financially support the Parish over the long-term. On their part the Archdiocese would have to allow Black Catholics throughout the archdiocese to register at St. Peter Claver Church so they could have their Baptisms, Confirmations and Marriages at St. Peter Claver's. For the right order interested in doing the work of the Christian Gospel one would think it would be an attractive offer because not only does it offer the opportunity to provide this valuable service to the Black community in the Archdiocese but also the opportunity to minister to young people and people very much caught up in a worldly way of life which to a significant degree would entail the residents, workers and visitors to Center City Philadelphia.




To get seed money to help this Order with this takeover of St. Peter Claver the archdiocese could use half the proceeds from the sale of Holy Trinity Church at 6th and Spruce which this past December the Archdiocese announced it was permanently closing and selling and give the other half to Old St. Mary Parish who had Holy Trinity as a satellite church for numerous years. It is fair because probably most of St. Peter Claver's parishioners went to Old St. Mary parish after its closing and have been donating to Old St. Mary's for years so it would be a giveback of sorts and Holy Trinity Church has represented the Catholic Philadelphians history of their faith in the Archdiocese so it would be very appropriate to use some of the proceeds of the sale of that Church to try to preserve other vital history of Catholics in Philadelphia, the Black Catholics experience! One might say why don't you try to preserve Holy Trinity Church because that was founded by German Catholics and it was initially like a national church for German Catholics in America? The brief answer is Holy Trinity Church lacks beauty as a church if many people were given the address of Holy Trinity and told to go to that location when standing outside the Church they would be asking themselves where is the church it looks like a brick warehouse this address, it doesn't have the height, grandeur and detail of a beautiful Church it would be foolishness and a waste of an effort to pursue saving Holy Trinity Church!

[gg]

Shame. You should see the beautiful churches let go in Pittsburgh in black communities. Too far gone sadly.

[toobusytoday]

Closed for mod review.