Result of dwindling numbers of priests, Catholics and resources
NEW YORK (ChurchMilitant.com) - As the Church in the West approaches an impending statistical collapse, the archdiocese of New York is trying to downsize the number of Mass times.
In an October 29 parish bulletin, Msgr. Joseph Giandurco of St. Patrick's Church in Yorktown Heights, New York, penned a letter about the smaller number of Mass times for Christmas and New Year's. "Many Catholics in the archdiocese of New York are not aware that Cdl. Dolan has asked all pastors to try to cut down on the number of Masses in all our parishes," he explained.
The monsignor regrets the cuts to Mass times and notes that a priest who usually assists the parish on weekends will be out of town for Christmas and New Year's. The bulletin letter also warns that St. Patrick's Church could see a permanent Mass reduction in the future.
Saint Patrick's has two places where Mass is offered, a "Main Church" and a "Stone Church." The parish is run by three priests and Msgr. Giandurco is the pastor, while Fr. John Wilson and Fr. Christian Amah are parochial vicars.
The Main Church features one Saturday Vigil Mass and five Sunday Masses; the Stone Church has two Masses every Sunday morning. On weekdays, the parish has an average of two Masses and two confession times per day.
One of the Sunday Mass times in the Stone Church, Msgr. Giandurco says, might come to an end in autumn 2018.
The archdiocese's reduction policy, Msgr. Giandurco writes, is based on "fewer people coming to Mass," "fewer priests available" and the "rising costs for everything involved in having too many Masses."
Cardinal Dolan has asked all pastors to try to cut down on the number of Masses in all our parishes.Tweet
The New York archdiocese, under the leadership of Cdl. Timothy Dolan, was rocked by scandal in 2015 and 2016 when parishioners went public about the embezzlement and perversion of archdiocesan priest Fr. Peter Miqueli. The priest stole donation money from numerous parishes and used it to pay off a gay prostitute, among other things.
Church Militant reported last week on a recent round of priestly sex abuse settlements involving the archdiocese of New York and the diocese of Brooklyn. The two dioceses paid a total of $1.8 million to five men and one woman who were sexually abused by priests.
Cardinal Dolan has come under fire on various occasions for failing to defend Catholic sexual morality.
In 2015, he served as Grand Marshal in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City, despite the parade committee welcoming an out-and-proud homosexual organization. Within a year, a second homosexuality-endorsing group joined the parade.
During a televised interview in 2014, Cdl. Dolan gave a congratulatory "bravo" to openly gay NFL draftee Michael Sam. Subsequently, in January 2015, Sam proposed to his gay lover at the top of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.