Not All Saints Parish?

In a recent All Saints Parish bulletin, a question was asked and answered. I reproduce it here with the original grammar and punctuation: 

Q. Will we still be known as All Saints Parish or will we be St. Mary Parish? 

A. When All Saints Parish was established, the four original parishes were formally suppressed according to canon law. That means that in the eyes of the universal church, St. Patrick, St. Vincent, St. Mary, and Immaculate Heart Church no longer exist, while their original building still stand. They are all part of All Saints Parish. The church on the hill has traditionally carried the name St. Mary, and perhaps will always be thought of that way in the minds and hearts of people. However, it technically is now a worship site of All Saints Parish, and is more aptly named "All Saints Church."

But read the following from a canon lawyer at EWTN in response to a question regarding the same issue:

Renaming of a Church building 

Question from Terry on 8/24/2010:

I seem to remember reading some place that Canon Law forbids renaming a church building once it is dedicated. Not a parish but a church building. Did I misunderstand? If not could you tell me the Specific Canon because all around me this is happening when the diocese combines parishes. God Bless you! terry 

Answer by Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL on 8/28/2010: 

Canon 1218 states: "Each church is to have its own title which cannot be changed after the church has been dedicated." There was even a specific clarification from the Vatican stating that the diocesan bishop does not have authority to dispense from (make an exception to) this law.

I agree that this is a widespread and terrible problem that is happening in many parts of the United States, especially throughout the northeast where many parishes have been closed. It is often done under the pretext of giving a parish a name that is distinct from the name of the church buildings. However, nothing in canon law authorizes the giving of a parish a name, yet I have seen this abuse repeatedly. Only Church buildings are to be given a name (or title). It is part of the dedication or consecration of the sacred place....read the rest of the answer here. H/T from Cleansing Fire.

This means, that if we end up with one church, St. Mary's, then our parish should, according to canon law, be named St. Mary Parish. If, St. Vincent's and Immaculate Heart of Mary are gone, then we will no longer be All Saints Parish. Makes sense, since the only saint left is St. Mary. Something to think about.

To the top...

Can we bring this thread up to the top? Please start commenting here. The last three comments posted are:

Anonymous said...

FWIW:
Auburn - population ~28,000 - 7 churches
Elmira - population ~39,000 - 6 churches
Elmira Heights - population ~4,000 - 1 church
Corning - population ~11,000 - 3 churches

Demographically, not accounting for population density, we should look at Auburn and see what we can model on and borrow from them.

Obviously this is back of the envelope, as the number of churches and the population of, say, Rochester is hard to make a direct correlatation between poplation and churches serving that population. I am sure the population density of the ABC Parish would also be skewed as the populations and square mileage of the parish being served by those churches is interesting. Although you could segment the population of the specific townships and the local church serving that township.

Question - could Corning support 2 parishes? September 23, 2010 12:34 PM 

Joe said..

Just crunching numbers for the heck of it- the total population for above is 82,000. Divide this by the number of churches covering this population, 17, and you come up with an average population of 4,823 PER ONE CHURCH. With our population of 11,000, sustaining 2 Churches should not be an issue. The fact that it is an issue, is the issue. September 23, 2010 12:47 PM

Chris said...

Auburn is a very conservative, traditional parish. Need I say more? Much credit to the late Father Shammon.
September 23, 2010 1:01 PM 

What, or Who, makes the Church attractive?

Prayer Request -- UPDATE

Please everyone, say a prayer for Fr. Lew, who is in the hospital.

UPDATE: Fr. Lew is out of the hospital!

Continuing a blog thread here...

People are having trouble commenting on the thread to this post, Meeting Open Thread and Power Point Presentation. Two members of SOP wanted to respond but some glitch prevented both they and the admin from posting their responses on the thread. So, we are linking here and here to their responses. Feel free to continue the thread here on this blog post.

Come, let us adore Him

Beginning the second week of October parishioners will have the opportunity for Adoration at St. Mary's Chapel--24 hours a day for a week.

For all the info, including signups, click here.

Parish women's rosary group starts up

A new women's rosary and coffee group is starting at All Saints Parish. Check out the details in this week's bulletin or at SavingOurParish.com.

Editorial in the Leader

It may take a miracle to save church

FTA:

No one wants to see a beautiful neighborhood church like St. Vincent’s closed down, if that is indeed part of the plan to convert other parts of the church property into a senior housing facility. Not surprisingly, it’s difficult to find out the full intentions of the proposed sale and the fate of the church itself seems uncertain, at best.

Listen to Papa

“Sometimes it is a challenge to find a reason for what appears only as a difficulty to be overcome or even pain to be endured.  Yet our faith helps us to break open the horizon beyond our own selves in order to see life as God does, God’s unconditional love, which bathes every human individual, points to a meaning and purpose for all human life.  Through his Cross, Jesus in fact draws us into his saving love and in so doing shows us the way ahead – the way of hope which transfigures us all, so that we too , become bearers of that hope and clarity for others.” Pope Benedict XVI

Letter from a Native Son

If you are feeling a little down about our parish, there's a letter on the home page of SavingOurParish.com to cheer you up. And then take a look at the news article that was also sent along--yes, it's Bishop Sheen at St. Vincent's!

Many thanks and God bless you, Mr. Kane, for taking the time to write and inspire us all.

Media Coverage

WETM, Channel 18 was at the meeting last night. Here's a link

And the Corning Leader covered the event, too, here.

Meeting Open Thread and Power Point Presentation

Give us your feedback about the meeting...share any additional ideas...and even the things you didn't like about it. :-)

And here's the link to the Power Point presentation. We'll get the results of our brainstorming session up as soon as we can.

Thank you, thank you, to all who participated. Your ideas and input and honest zeal was amazing and inspiring.

See you at the Library, 2 p.m. sharp!

This is a great day for our parish. We are being given an opportunity to offer help and ideas to parish leadership. Can't wait to see everyone at the Library. Praying for the Holy Spirit to guide us, and praying blessings for each and every individual in our parish community.

Signs are in!

 We have yard signs! Get yours at the meeting on Sunday at the Library. If you can't make the meeting or need extra signs, contact us at admin@savingourparish.com and we'll arrange to get them to you.

PRESERVE

SAINT VINCENT CHURCH

The price of selling . . .UPDATE

What would you say of selling off a property that was assessed at over $2 million, for $350,000?

SavingOurParish.com has the assessment for you. A big thanks to the parishioner who alerted us to the information.

Read it and weep.

We are talking only the financials here, which is the language parish leadership is speaking. Nothing about the cost in human terms.

UPDATE: The Corning Leader has an article about the sale of SV here.

For a City of Corning tax assessment, go here to see for yourself. Here are a couple of the particulars:

SWIS: 460300 Tax ID: 299.20-01-070.000
Tax Map ID / Property Data
Status: Active Roll Section: Wholly Exem
Address: 109 Ellicott St
Property Class: 620 - Religious Site Property Class: 620 - Religious
Total Acreage/Size: 1.54 Equalization Rate: ----
Land Assessment: 2010 - $38,400 Total Assessment: 2010 - $2,065,000
Full Market Value: 2010 - $2,065,000 Market Value/sqft: N/A

Sorry, I couldn't get the post to format correctly!