Pope's Visit Comes as Bronx Catholics Search for New Spiritual Homes
Pope Francis is arriving in New York City this week to a Catholic Church that is shrinking, in part, because of a shortage of money and priests. The Archdiocese of New York has closed dozens of churches in the past year. At one of those churches, Our Lady of Grace in the North Bronx, Catholics from many walks of life are doing their best to find a new spiritual home.
In its 91-year-history, the church welcomed generations of Italians and, more recently, newer immigrants from Latin America and Africa. At the final mass in July, women from Nigeria wore traditional dresses and head-wraps in bright colors as they played drums in the first pew. Nearby were French Creole speakers. And everyone listened to a service that was delivered in both English and Spanish.
After mass, they gathered for one final meal at a parking lot across the street, where a steel drum band struck an oddly cheerful tone. Especially when the mood for some of the parishioners was downright angry.
Maria Ota, who is originally from Nigeria, was mad Cardinal Timothy Dolan and the archdiocese didn't do more to keep the church open.
"The cardinal did bad," she said. "In my country you don't close churches, you bring more people to church."
Others were just sad.
Lloyd Dennis went to Our Lady of Grace for 52 years. One of his best memories was getting married at the church.Â
"I almost feel like I could cry, but I won't do it in front of my parishioners here," he laughed with a somber note in his voice. "I feel a little lonely and disheartened. But life goes on."
The archdiocese said a lot goes into the decision to close a church. It's not just about money or a shortage of priests; it's about attendance at Sunday mass, which was down at Our Lady of Grace.
Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling said it also has to respond to shifting demographics across the 10 counties it covers.
"We have to look and say 'here is what the people need now. How are we going to meet those needs? What kind of changes do we have to undertake in order to meet the needs?' In some cases, some pruning, some merging," he said.
Technically the archdiocese merged Our Lady of Grace with another parish, St. Frances of Rome, about a half mile away. It's more ornate than Our Lady, with beautiful stained glass windows and a huge glass dome that drenches the altar in sunlight.
But some of Our Lady's older parishoners said St. Frances is too far away to walk to. Others, whose families went to Our Lady for decades and commuted in from as far as Westchester, said they may seek congregations closer to home. Still others were seeking a new Catholic home that would allow them to continue practicing their faith the way they were used to at Our Lady, with their own music and in their own language.
For now, a few dozen of Our Lady's French Creole speakers, mostly Haitian, are testing out a new space about 30 blocks from Our Lady. It's a chapel with wooden beams, some of them water damaged. It only seats about 50 people.Â
Genevive Vincent helped to secure the unused space from St. Lucy's parish. She says it may take some time for Our Lady's wayfaring flock to get used to it.Â
"Wouldn't we love to have masses in different languages? Yes," Vincent said. "Does the church run on Hail Mary's? No. At least that's what I was told. So we do what we have to do."
The mass at the St. Lucy's chapel is believed to be the only remaining French Creole service in the Bronx. In fact, the priest who celebrates it comes in from Brooklyn; that's no easy feat with weekend subway service. He was half an hour late for the first mass at the chapel in August.
Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling said church leaders take language into account when deciding which ones to close. He said they found people were willing to travel for masses in their own language.
"When there was a special language mass held in a parish, we found that the people who attended that mass came from a very broad area," Zwilling said.
For those Our Lady parishioners who did move to St. Frances of Rome as the archdiocese recommended, they were treated to a special Sunday mass to welcome them.
George Janvier went to Our Lady of Grace his whole life, from his first communion to his marriage. He is understanding about having to relocate.
"The cardinal has to look out after the entire archdiocese, not just a single parish," Janvier said. "I'm upset, but you can't just put the blame on the cardinal."
Janvier was one of many parishioners who said they were eager to bring the vibrancy of Our Lady of Grace to another community. So many were happy when they saw him lead the choir during the first mass at their new spiritual home at St. Frances.
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