It pains me to say it, but St. George Lithuanian will be moving fairly soon from their current church on Hudson Avenue (down the road from St. Stanislaus) to Our Lady of Lourdes in Brighton. It was long known that Lourdes, along with St. Thomas More and St. James, were possibilities for the small Lithuanian congregation. Below is the notice as it appears in the upcoming St. Anne/OLoL bulletin:
“Lourdes was one of the parishes identified as a possibility by the Lithuanians, since the Lithuanian Heritage School already meets at Lourdes for 40 Saturdays a year.
A walkthrough [sic] Lourdes in October brought together members of Saint George, Father Dominic Mogovicius [sic – It’s really spelled “Mockevicius”], their pastor and members of our parish council, finance council and buildings and grounds committee, in a congenial atmosphere.
Lourdes is their choice. In January members of Saint George will enter into a conversation with our own staff about what such a move might mean. Our process will include practical details, having some town meetings, both by ourselves and with members of the Lithuanian community.”
Cleansing Fire readers might remember a few months ago that the possibility of St. George moving to St. Thomas the Apostle was discouraged by the diocese because of the chance of closure by the all-powerful Irondequoit Pastoral Planning Group.
The move to Lourdes should lead to a few questions being asked:
1. What will this move mean for the people of St. Anne? Should one church be closed in the near future, will the presence of St. George at Lourdes make it more likely that Lourdes will be chosen to remain open over St. Anne?
2. Will St. George remain autonomous, that is under the leadership of Fr. Mockevicius alone, or will Sr. Joan Sobala ultimately be in charge?
3. With the expected sale of the property on Hudson Ave., to where will that money go?
Tags: Church Closings, IPPG, Joan, News and Media
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I can see Joan drooling right now.
I'll give them credit for staying on that part of Hudson Ave. for as long as they did.
St. Bridgid's isn't doing that great down there either.
St. Stan's is fortunate to be located where it is in the city. Plus having parking is a big help.
I think St. Bridget will close within a year.
Here are their November attendance totals (the 16th isn't found online)-
11/29: 30
11/8: 31
11/1: 32
I'll be posting on the state of our Black Catholic communities later on tonight.
~Dr. K