But as neighborhoods have changed and parishioners have migrated toward the suburbs, grand buildings like St. Philip Neri have become a drain on the archdiocese’s budget. The building is now ensconced in scaffolding, and most of its 1,700 seats stay empty on Sundays.
“A lot of the work done in the past, we’re now correcting,” said the Rev. Thomas Belanger, pastor of St. Philip Neri. “We’re left with nothing in the bank. With the ongoing costs of trying to heat these monstrosities, you wouldn’t build something like St. Philip Neri today.”
Editor’s note: Is anyone else offended by this priest’s unfortunate choice of words?
1 Comment
Doug Lawrence's Catholic Site 
I’m beyond being offended by such stupidities as those mouthed by this priest. But I would respectfully suggest to him that the church begin a regular, daily traditional Mass. It wont turn the problem around in a day or a week, but he will see some of those empty seats he refers to start to fill up again.
If he is not inclined to offer this Mass himself at first, there are plenty of traditional orders out there willing to help him, and to teach him to begin to offer it himself.
These problems though dire are not insurmountable. When the traditional Mass started being offered at 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning in a church here in Milwaukee the number of attendees was around 20. Eighteen months later, it is now pushing 200 and climbing. Something for this priest to think about.