Dorothy Day's parish could close
The parish where Dorothy Day worshipped, the Jesuit-run Church of the Nativity in New York, is on the list of parishes tapped by the archdiocese to close. I was thinking about whether Dorothy Day would be sad about this. From reading her biography, I have the sense that she accepted the necessary loss of physical space, even those she had worked very hard for--the Catholic Workers' self-sustaining farm and the beach house where she raised her daughter and which eventually passed into the CW community. It's never easy to say goodbye to a beloved place, but I think the closing of a parish community--and the services it provides in the East Village--would have troubled her more.
On the other hand, Dorothy Day deeply loved the sacraments, and would not have accepted the division we often see between service-minded Catholics and pious ones. The Catholic Worker house where she lived, Maryhouse, is still active in the neighborhood, but where will they worship now?
I'm trying to decide whether it would be fitting, in her honor, to send the Church of the Nativity something in hopes they can stay open, or whether I should just send it to Maryhouse, who will probably end up ministering to Nativity's needy if it closes. At any rate, I found both their addresses:
Church of the Nativity
44 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003
(212) 674-8590
Maryhouse
55 East Third Street,
New York, NY 10003
Tel: 212-777-9617
posted by Theologienne @ 10:42 PM
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2 Comments:
Unfortunately, Nativity was only having about 30 people for Sunday mass, so it was an unfortunate necessity to close it. I think the building will be donated to the Catholic school next door, so it will be put to good use.
Maryhouse will still get their fair share of priests coming to visit. I was just talking to a member yesterday, and they get plenty of priests to come say mass on the premises.
So I'd say donate the money to Maryhouse. :)
I think the closing of any parish community is sad, but I think it's important to keep perspective of the Archdiocese's responsibility to the whole archdiocese...the Archdiocese has a program to help parishes which are somewhat in the red (like, a few tens of thousands annually), and keeping Nativity open would have diverted resources that could be used to do more good elsewhere.
-Pete
You're right, of course. It was good to hear in that same article that the archdiocese is expanding elsewhere--NYC Catholicism isn't imploding, just shifting its boundaries. The loss of physical historical connections just tugs a little sadly at my religious imagination. But one of the most inspiring facets of the Catholic Church for me is that, throughout all its changes and movings and growings, it is the same historical church. Though we can't any longer be co-parishioners with Dorothy Day, we are still co-communicants not only with her, but with Teresa of Avila and the disciples at the Last Supper.
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