Archdiocese: St. Mary's, St. Lucy's and St. Josaphat's to Close

Does this merger make sense for Manayunk's Catholics? 

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia officially announced a plan to close three Manayunk Catholic parishes and merge them with two others, negating a parishioner plan to salvage a separate, consolidated church.  

On Sunday, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput approved the closings of , , and . St. Lucy's will merge with , and St. Josaphat's and St. Mary's will merge with .

The Manayunk closings were announced by the archdiocese simultaneously with similar maneuvers in Coatesville, Germantown, and West Oak Lane-East Mt. Airy.

"Restructuring our parishes will be a challenge for many families and individuals. Change is rarely easy. But we do need to take these steps to help every parish more effectively promote the Gospel and strengthen the future of our Catholic life together," Chaput said in a statement.

Manayunk parishioners long knew keeping five Catholic churches was unsustainable. In 2011, the archdiocese initially announced the plan it codified Sunday. However, members from Sts. Lucy's, Mary's and Josaphat's offered an alternate plan to consolidate those three entities into a new church in an effort to preserve the churches' unique ethnic identities.

Janet Kempf, from St. John the Baptist, recently called on local Catholics to unite .

Why These Churches?

The archdiocese cited several reasons for the mergers—including financial status, facility condition and mass attendance.

For St. Lucy's, the archdiocese said its "significant operating deficit" and the presence of the local Catholic elementary school (also recently merged) at Holy Family contributed to the move.

St. John the Baptist was chosen, the archdiocese said, because it "has the largest church building in the area and is the Mother Church of Manayunk."

All three merged parishes will remain as worships sites—in the near future—for holy days, weddings, funerals, and other events. The archdiocese said it will name two pastors in May.

In a letter to parishioners Rev. Charles Zlock—who presides over St. Mary's and St. Lucy's—shared the following:

"I know this news will cause sadness and pain. In the work of building up the Church and maintaining God’s Kingdom on earth we have been asked to let go of something so near and dear to each of our hearts. I pray that you will trust in the Lord as we move forward together and hope that He will grant us all the grace, strength, and wisdom to complete this process with charity and patience.

"This experience will be challenging and exciting at the same time. We are working to preserve a Catholic Church in Philadelphia so that the spiritual and pastoral needs of generations yet unborn will be tended to with the same love and care you have experienced and witnessed. All of us must be willing to labor together for the Lord to achieve that goal."

What's Next?

Parishioners have 15 days to file an appeal to Chaput, which can be done by following instructions on the attached document.

Each of the two altered churches will create implementation teams comprised of laypeople to work on the transition.

In addition, St. Mary's already announced several meetings and services for parishioners to mourn their church.

"I want you to know that I, the parish councils and parish staff are here for you and want to help in any way possible. Ultimately, while this is a very sad occasion, it is faith in Jesus Christ that sustains us and through His strength we can survive this loss," Zlock wrote.

Click here for the official report.