It's absolutely amazing how advocates of causes that target
the Catholic Church are able to mount drawn-out campaigns, raise
defense funds, hold rallies and vigils, and find sympathy in the
courts and the press.
One such campaign concerns St. Brigid's, a church in the East
Village that is scheduled for demolition. Opponents consider the
building an Irish cultural landmark that should be preserved, and
they have offered to buy the building to restore it. The
archdiocese claims St. Brigid's is unsafe, but it won't sell.
Would this conflict even exist if the property did not belong to
the archdiocese?
I first became aware of the situation a couple of years ago when
my nephew, who is an artist and lives in the area, asked me to
write a column urging the archdiocese to reconsider its position.
Obviously, my nephew has an inflated opinion of my influence in
the community, but I did promise to look into the background.
One of the first things I learned was that this battle is not
along the usual lines. It does not involve heartbroken
parishioners struggling to save their parish. This campaign is
being funded by individuals more concerned with aesthetical
changes in the community than the removal of a spiritual nexus.
Articles in the local press assert that former parishioners are
the ones behind the campaign to save St. Brigid's, but the
director of communications for the archdiocese, Joseph Zwilling,
said attendance at the church was quite small. While some of the
petitioners opposed to the demolition include former
parishioners, they are certainly not the majority.
A filmmaker, Jerome O'Connor, a native of Cork, Ireland, has been
at the forefront of this effort to save a landmark he claims is
of great historical significance to the Irish immigrants who
escaped from the great Famine and built this church. It is St.
Brigid's Irish connection, rather than any religious association,
that motivates his drive to save the building.
Another passionate petitioner is Edwin Torres, who was a
parishioner for more than 30 years and was very involved in the
parish services. He has appeared on "The Brian Lehrer
Show" on WNYC with Mr. O'Connor to plead for the
preservation of a beautiful church with historical significance
to both the Irish and Hispanic communities.
One caller to the show charged that the reason the archdiocese is
gutting the church is that it needs the money to pay for the
judgments stemming from the priest pedophile scandals. Mr.
Zwilling, however, told the Village Voice: "If all we cared
about is money, we would have sold it to this person who was
offering market value for it. That would have kept the
preservationist crowd happy. But that's not what we're interested
in. We're interested in serving the needs of the people
consistent with the Catholic mission and the purpose of the
Archdiocese of New York."
He also told me: "Is it fair that we deprive funding for
education in our inner city schools in order to preserve church
buildings in poorly attended parishes?"
The archdiocese is in the progress of a realignment of its
parishes. It will be closing some sparsely populated parishes and
expanding those in growing areas. Consequently, faithful
parishioners are facing the closure of churches that have
traditional connections to their families. I sympathize with
parishioners like Mr. Torres, but I find it somewhat unrealistic
for them not to realize that for the church to survive, it must
make difficult choices. Thriving parishes where the congregations
are generous with time and money never have to worry about losing
their spiritual homes. Far too often, sentiment and nostalgia
play more of a part in these battles to preserve edifices than
true devotion and faith.
My old parish, St. Cecilia's on 106th Street in Spanish Harlem,
holds many fond memories, but if it were razed tomorrow, how
could I possibly protest? I was baptized there, but haven't
attended Mass there in more than 30 years. What right do I have
to hold the church hostage for my injured feelings?
We lose landmarks every day in this city, but the only ones we
truly have a right to demand the preservation of are those that
are publicly owned. Remember the Roxy, the Paramount, the
Lorelei, Cafe Feenjon? All may have had some form of cultural
significance, but they're all gone and I don't recall any
candlelight vigils before their departure.
I heard one woman on Mr. Lehrer's show say that she passed the
church every day on her way to work, and that it would be a shame
to see the beautiful building torn down. Well, perhaps if more
people did more than just pass the church, St. Brigid's fate
might have been avoided.