Nesquehoning church fights to stay open

Good luck with this. You are fighting the good old boys club!

Good luck, our prayers are with you.

Unfortunately, the bishop is more concerned with joining a local country club and renovating his new digs out by lehigh valley hospital to care what the parishioners think.

They should be happy they at least have one church thats going to stay open! And become a stronger "catholic community" instead of "fighting" over nonsense!!!

I am sure they are closing the better ones because they will get a better price when they get sold.

oh this is rich, taking on the Catholic Church after they have made a decision.
Better to beat your head against a wall.
I love my (Catholic) Church but its no democracy and cares nothing for the popular vote. You have two choices: accept it as it is or start yet another religion.

The beginning of the end....It was good for the smucks that actually believed the BS. Spirituality comes in many forms. Not just one and only religion.GOD and JESUS are open to everyone.....Tradition is also important...so figure it out...

While I've heard all the "reasons" for these closings - according to the Diocese, I'm still unsure of the criteria they used to determine which Churches are to close.

If a Parish falls to below, say, 200, and there are other Churche(s) within a 10 mile radius, then there's no need to keep a dedicated Priest there.

But by what "yardstick" did the Diocese formulate this list?

An Orthodox Priest once told me that once a Parish exceeds 300, then it's time to build ANOTHER Church, rather than a LARGER one, since one Priest cannot possibly minister over more than that. Although there are several Orthodox Churches in the area with far more than 300, each has more than one FT Priest, some as many as three, not to mention Deacons and Sub-Deacons.

This way, the needs of the parishioners can be met fully: Visiting the sick, Blessing homes, officiating at Funerals and Memorial Services, Baptisms, Weddings, Confessions, Counseling, Fellowship, etc., not to mention Saturday Vespers, and Sunday Liturgies.

I pray that they succeed....this church is very special...the Italians in New Columbus deserve to keep this church and I hope St Theresa blesses them accordingly

Fight the good fight my friends :)

I am sure the good Bishop put down his silver spoon and porcelain coffee cup long enough to chuckle at the peasants of a town, he doesn't even know the location of, thinking they can defy him.

This is going to be fun watching.

Yeah, They better keep praying for all ill will they have been causing.

I wish them all good luck. My family is from the New Columbus area of Nesquehoning. I've been to that church and it's St. Theresa festival on many different occasions. It is part of their heritage. It would be a shame to lose such a beautiful parish.

"They should be happy they at least have one church thats going to stay open! And become a stronger "catholic community" instead of "fighting" over nonsense!!! "
"Yeah, They better keep praying for all ill will they have been causing. " You don't like these people do you????

All this blaming and bickering isn't very Christian. While it's refreshing to actually see a group of people willing to stand up for something, I have to wonder what the big deal is. Sure, the closing of a church to which you're attached is sad, but it's affecting a lot of people. The fact is that if you truly have faith in your religion, you can practice it in ANY suitable church. Knowing the area, I also have to wonder if the root of all of this complaining is ethnically-based. Ask Panther Valley natives, and they'll tell you that the churches are known as "Italian Catholic" or "Polish Catholic," and I think, for some reason, people are concerned about (gasp!) the merging of two cultures. So sad.

Before the Morning Call shuts down the negative comments about his Holiness Big Ed again, I better comment quick. The church in New Columbus will bring in more money when it sells, the older property will not bring as much. The question is how many brew pubs will go into all these old churhes? All the sweat that went into building the old churches means nothing. They where build by the parishioners not by the money grubbing machine!

Phillies Fan wrote:

Good luck with this. You are fighting the good old boys club!

More like the good old queens club.

It needs to be understood that the basis of the decision was to choose the building that was superior. OLMC has the superior building based on the recommendations from the diocese. The decision and voting of which church was a biased decision and those that participated were not fair when judging the building. This is not starting the ill will, this will bring closure. The parish of OLMC has been dealing with ill will from others all along. Facts are, OLMC has better building, better facilities, banquet hall, 2 major fundraisers, Holy Name Society, Sodality, largest amount of membership, greatest amount of donations, largest percentage of youth and the highest percentage of said youth attending catholic schools, and unlimited parking possibilities in park donated across the street. The priest even has decided to remain in the OLMC rectory when it was said that he should follow to ICC. So, if our "leader" won't even move to ICC, then why would anyone expect that of a parishoner? This smells bad, looks bad and feels bad, guess what, it is bad. The diocese and Bishop Cullin have an opportunity to give the people of Sacred Heart and OLMC a chance to present the case and make the right decision. There are many people who simply will NOT go to ICC due to this very unfair and uneducated decision. This is not about the Italians or the Polish, this is about making an educated decision and an opportunity to correct a mistake

care wrote:

There are many people who simply will NOT go to ICC due to this very unfair and uneducated decision. This is not about the Italians or the Polish, this is about making an educated decision and an opportunity to correct a mistake

You better start praying for your lies!

well, either you name yourself "praypraypray" or "believe", it is clear you are the same person. I do not need to, this is the truth, just start opening your eyes as the truth will be seen and noticed in the decline of members when this injustice takes place. I am not saying all will not go, but there will be greater than 20% that will leave Nesquehoning parish due to this decision. I do not claim to say ICC is a terrible church or anything of the such, but again, if the parish priest won't move to ICC and prefers OLMC, isn't that a clear indication of which Church is superior? Please, just acknowlede the bias injustice and stop making excuses. This is all fact.