I recieved this notice from one of the posters to a genealogy message board. This trend is alarming, while we can all understand the reduced church attendence and parohicial school enrollment (at least in some areas), I believe that some Bishops and Diocese Offices do not respect the contributions made by the European ethinic communities to the building of the Roman Catholic faith in America. Recently the olderst Roman Catholic Croatian church in America, St Nicholas in Pittsburgh PA, closed. What a shame that we did not all raise our voices (and maybe also money!) to save such an important American-Croatian institution. How many more will close before the community acts in a positive manner to help? ********* St. John The Baptist Grade School in Kansas City, Kansas is scheduled to be closed. It will be consolidated with two other grade schools, and the students will be moved to the grade school which is based at the archdiocese catherdral. St. John's is important in the history of Croatians in the United States. It was the first Croatian grade school, established and opened in 1909, under the direction of Msgr. Martin Krmpotic, shortly after the church was constructed and dedicated in 1904. The history of the parish is outlined in the book The Croatian Immigrants in America by George Prpic, a professor at John Carroll University in Cleveland. The parish complex was also the sight of the first Croatian orphanage in this country, founded and run by the same sisters who staffed the school. The orphanage has long closed, and the building is the site of the Strawberry Hill Museum. I have written the archbishop to make him aware of the significance of the school and the church, which is also rumored to be on the closure list. If any of the other list members who have ties to St. John's would want to write him as well, the address is : His Excellency The Most Reverend Joseph F. Naumann, D.D. Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas 12615 Parallel Parkway Kansas City, KS 66109 Phone (913) 721-1570 Fax (913) 721-1577 email: archkck@archkck. org <mailto:archkck@archkck. org> <mailto:archkck@archkck. org> "Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men." Ayn Rand 1905-1982

You know Robert in most cases I'd default to you but in this case I need to speak out. You are putting blame on the wrong folks and/or organizations here. I volunteer countless hours and monies to the Catholic Church. And do my best to help parishes with free donated services that they may have otherwise would have had to pay. I also constantly recruit young people and/or other ages of folks back into the Catholic Church. There are many to blame here but I don't agree with the blame on the Bishops and/or Diocese Offices. It's the fault of the young people. They don't go to Church until they get older, or until they have kids and they are baptised, then they leave again and we don't see the youth until their kids go to PSR. The young move out into surburban cities and/or out of state. Youth = donations + volunteered hours + membership that can help support the Church. The other alarm with our youth (can you tell I teach PSR? LOL!) is that the youth are pushing for their children to receive First Eucharist/Reconciliation/Confirmation ALL at the same time no later than 2nd grade! I'm NOT kidding you! There is HUGE pressure to make this happen. And I will tell you this. Pressure = Change in our Church. However the problem here is that with this "change" is that as we all know it's the sacraments that these children receive is what's holding these youths (parents) into our Church. No children = no parents = no monies = you have to shut down and/or collaborate parishes just to make ends meet. Next blame: This year was the first year we had a teeny increase in young men and/ or women wanting to become priests and/or nuns. We don't have enough youth coming in to support all the Churches. Last year began the first year whereby the largest set of priests and/or nuns have gone into retirement. And for those that do not know, these wonderful men and women sometimes don't retire until they are in their very late 60's or 70's! Some should have retired YEARS ago but due to their own personal commitment they have tried very hard for the sake of their communities to stay as long as they can to keep certain parishes open and running. The Roman Catholic Church as a whole has tried their very best to hold onto and keep such old Churches. They DO believe in them and they are the PRIDE of our Faith! Some have tried renting space to schools, cities and/or other organizations just to be able to pay the monthly bills for utilities and/or maintanance. Still it's not enough. No money + no support = drastic measures. Heck some Churches have tried registering themselves as "historical place" within the cities to try to get some support from the gov't but still it's not enough! It takes some hard monies to upkeep these hundreds of year old churches! And not to mention the heating bills! Heck the one Church I know you are familiar with is on 40th Street. You know how COLD it's in there in the winter sometimes if they don't have enough funds? You have to cut somewhere! Robert in our very own Cleveland, Ohio we have a Croatian Church near 40th Street. How many times have you gone there and/or donated monies with your writing on the envelope stating "keep my money for "? This is NOT said to hurt you, but rather to make a point. We too, as a community, are stretched with our own funding and our own time to support all these churches. My own family has returned to support that Church countless of times. We've tried marrying there so that funds could be donated. We've tried fundraising, getting small business to rest space in what used to be the school there. I mean anything and everything. But sadly if not enough folks are attending and/or that parish is costing more verses what you are putting in you have to make a decision. It's business and business ain't pretty that's for sure! So I blame the youth. And I AM the youth! (if anyone is curious to know) Most of us now are in surburbia in a totally different county. We have our Church, it's new and it's glorious. And we've almost paid it off. The very very sad thing about this is that we have 3 parishes just 20 mins away from each direction! Kinda DUMB that it's built out here. But all in all this Parish has an enrollment of over 1000 children! More that 2700 families. Still we are short sometimes to pay our bills. Si that nuts or what??? Still I believe (and know for fact) that there are many other children out there that should or could attend PSR but basketball practice, football practice, etc is "more important" I know for last year and this year they dropped out of my class due to the conflict. We've set up after school programs that the children can attend so that it's BEFORE the practice, served with a hot meal and STILL the parents can't bring these kids in!!! We've even offered free transportation. Still the youth (the parents) are too lazy to sign the program forms and/or to return a phone call. But sure as heck they are NOT lazy to come in for free portraits when we made our Church directory. Sure as heck in not being lazy and are demanding that their kids get first communion at grade 2 even though they have NOT attended PSR regularly! Sure as heck not lazy to ask the Church to go and help their aging parents! Again, it's the YOUTH to blame. No regular attendance by youth = no monies and/or bodies to "support" the Church No youth = no young children = bleak future for the Catholic Faith On Jan 22, 2007, at 5:51 PM, Robert Jerin wrote: I recieved this notice from one of the posters to a genealogy message board. This trend is alarming, while we can all understand the reduced church attendence and parohicial school enrollment (at least in some areas), I believe that some Bishops and Diocese Offices do not respect the contributions made by the European ethinic communities to the building of the Roman Catholic faith in America. Recently the olderst Roman Catholic Croatian church in America, St Nicholas in Pittsburgh PA, closed. What a shame that we did not all raise our voices (and maybe also money!) to save such an important American- Croatian institution. How many more will close before the community acts in a positive manner to help? ********* St. John The Baptist Grade School in Kansas City, Kansas is scheduled to be closed. It will be consolidated with two other grade schools, and the students will be moved to the grade school which is based at the archdiocese catherdral. St. John's is important in the history of Croatians in the United States. It was the first Croatian grade school, established and opened in 1909, under the direction of Msgr. Martin Krmpotic, shortly after the church was constructed and dedicated in 1904. The history of the parish is outlined in the book The Croatian Immigrants in America by George Prpic, a professor at John Carroll University in Cleveland. The parish complex was also the sight of the first Croatian orphanage in this country, founded and run by the same sisters who staffed the school. The orphanage has long closed, and the building is the site of the Strawberry Hill Museum. I have written the archbishop to make him aware of the significance of the school and the church, which is also rumored to be on the closure list. If any of the other list members who have ties to St. John's would want to write him as well, the address is : His Excellency The Most Reverend Joseph F. Naumann, D.D. Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas 12615 Parallel Parkway Kansas City, KS 66109 Phone (913) 721-1570 Fax (913) 721-1577 email: archkck@archkck. org <mailto:archkck@archkck. org> <mailto:archkck@archkck. org> "Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men." Ayn Rand 1905-1982

I can echo Robert's concern and am saddened to hear this news. In the early 90's the Bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg, PA decided to combine five Catholic parishes in Steelton PA into one parish. The new parish was named Prince of Peace and took over St Mary's Roman Catholic Croatian Church. The Franciscan fathers were sent off and replaced by diocesan priests. There was a loud and long outcry from the Croatian community as well as the Slovenian, Italian and German parishes in Steelton that even made national news but in the end the bishop and the business side of the church prevailed. I have not lived there for 50+ years but keep up with the news. I understand that occasionally a Croatian priest is allowed to come back and offer a mass in the Croatian language so that some of the new recent immigrants and old timers get a taste of what the parish was like. On Jan 22, 2007, at 2:51 PM, Robert Jerin wrote: > I recieved this notice from one of the posters to a genealogy message > board. > > This trend is alarming, while we can all understand the reduced > church attendence and parohicial school enrollment (at least in some > areas), I believe that some Bishops and Diocese Offices do not respect > the contributions made by the European ethinic communities to the > building of the Roman Catholic faith in America. Recently the olderst > Roman Catholic Croatian church in America, St Nicholas in Pittsburgh > PA, closed. What a shame that we did not all raise our voices (and > maybe also money!) to save such an important American-Croatian > institution. How many more will close before the community acts in a > positive manner to help? > > ********* > > St. John The Baptist Grade School in Kansas > City, Kansas is scheduled to be closed. It will be consolidated with > two other grade schools, and the students will be moved to the grade > school which is based at the archdiocese catherdral. > > St. John's is important in the history of Croatians in the United > States. It was the first Croatian grade school, established and opened > in 1909, under the direction of Msgr. Martin Krmpotic, shortly after > the > church was constructed and dedicated in 1904. The history of the parish > is outlined in the book The Croatian Immigrants in America by George > Prpic, a professor at John Carroll University in Cleveland. The parish > complex was also the sight of the first Croatian orphanage in this > country, founded and run by the same sisters who staffed the school. > The orphanage has long closed, and the building is the site of the > Strawberry Hill Museum. > > I have written the archbishop to make him aware of the significance of > the school and the church, which is also rumored to be on the closure > list. If any of the other list members who have ties to St. John's > would want to write him as well, the address is : > > His Excellency The Most Reverend Joseph F. Naumann, D.D. > Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas > 12615 Parallel Parkway Kansas City, KS 66109 > Phone (913) 721-1570 > Fax (913) 721-1577 > email: archkck@archkck. org <mailto:archkck@archkck. org> > <mailto:archkck@archkck. org> > > > > "Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The > savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. > Civilization is the process of setting man free from men." Ayn Rand > 1905-1982 > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > CROATIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >