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No Blessings for St. Patrick's Old Cathedral School
Posted on Monday, December 06, 2010 at 07:05 PM
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| Students of Old St. Pat's School before it closed |
There was a notice on the web of a Rummage Sale back in August that advertised dozens of old children's school desks for just $10 each.
I felt sad, and I felt guilty too, when the school closed. A man who worked with a photographer friend of mine had asked me to get involved in the fight to save the school. He was an immigrant from Ecuador and his young son was a student.
I guess, the Pope's blessing is a guarantee that Old St. Patrick's will be saved the wrecking ball that
shook "old" St. Brigid's (another lower East Side church) to its foundations a while back.
The gaping hole in St. Brigid's beautiful stained glass window -- that bore the names of Irish Famine immigrants who built it -- made it clear that the Catholic hierarchy is rooted in capitalism not in sentiment.
If parish churches and schools can't pay for themselves they go on the auction block.
Luckily, in the case of St. Bridgid's, a court order stopped the carnage, and an anonymous donor came up with the money to save the church.
Old St. Patrick's, like St. Bridgid's, has been serving the immigrant community, beginning with the Irish, since the early 1800s. It first opened its doors in 1815. Many of those who fought and died with the Irish Brigade during the Civil War, left from this parish.
Over the years the neighborhoold around Mott Street changed to reflect different waves of immigrant groups landing in New York. After the Irish, the Italians became the standard bearers, but other groups, German, French, hispanic and the most recent wave -- Asians, were also part of the community.
The church and the school were the one constant in the ever changing neighborhood.
The building that housed the school (a gift from one successful Irish immigrant named Cornelius Heeney), once served as a Revolutionary War hospital. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton founded her Sisters of Charity here and her sisters cared for orphans in the building, which went on to become the first Catholic school in New York City.
Over the course of the school's history the students came from mainly immigrant families. (Martin Scorsese was a student). In recent years, the sign on the building was in Chinese and English, and that used to make me smile every time I passed by.
I was always proud of the Irish association with the school. I never passed by the building without thinking that it had been a lighthouse that guided those early Irish immigrants to the first rung on the ladder in the New World.
Pope Benedict, you did well when you chose to bless St. Patrick's Old Cathedral by designating it a "Basilica." Too bad you couldn't cast your blessings over the schools.
So many of the successful Irish American business men and women I've interviewed over the years credited their Catholic education with giving them the start in life. Yet, all across the country Catholic schools are closing.
Isn't there something that can be done? When I visited the Vatican a couple of years back, I was struck by the opulence. Particularly by the Vatican art collection.
How about a rummage sale!
Surely there is nothing more valuable than young minds.
See more: Schools, St. Patrick's Day, 1815, Catholic
9 Comments
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aStoirin | Mar 22, 2011, 09:50 AM EDT
When Cardinal Egan was a Bishop in CT, he was a "closer of schools". He has never been a supporter of Catholic education - it is a shame to see that he continues if legacy in NYC.
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mamaginnty | Jan 27, 2011, 03:16 PM EST
I remember being told years ago that the Vatican owned a well known street in New York, and collect the Ground Rent from each building on it. Is this true ??
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CitizenWhy | Jan 04, 2011, 07:34 PM EST
Too bad the school did not seek the help of Caroline Kennedy. An ancestor of her Bouvier grandfather (on her mother's side) was on the Board of the parish.
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CitizenWhy | Jan 04, 2011, 07:31 PM EST
St. Luke's in the South Bronx, with the help of Oprah Winfrey and a very successful Hispanic Alumnus, is decoupling from the diocese and becoming a private charter school. It will maintain its ties with the parish, but its assets will not be controlled by the diocese or the parish (subject to the diocese). This is happening with many inner-city Catholic schools throughout the US.
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mcdolan | Dec 08, 2010, 12:41 PM EST
Hear, hear. My old grammar school in Brooklyn, St. Francis Xavier in Park Slope, was built in early 20th century. It's still going strong because people in the community won't let it die, and it has a great alumni base to support it. Most of its students are now Hispanic, and most of the Sisters of St.Joseph have gone, but it still maintains a very high educational standard. I am very proud of the education I received there.
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heybuldog69 | Dec 08, 2010, 09:46 AM EST
As Tip O'Neill Said "All Politics is Local". The Vatican has very little to do with the day to day operation of the parishes. Auctioning the Art Collection May Seem an Ideal but What About the Folks Who Donated the Stuff for the Vatican to Hold in Trust. Should Only the Rich Get to See Works of Art and not the Poor? I Think Bread and Roses Works Best.
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manhattan | Dec 08, 2010, 02:06 AM EST
I can't understand why the school couldn't be protected by the city landmarks commission? And you are right, the Vatican could well afford to keep that school going. I was at the Feast in Little Italy years ago, As I passed Old St. Pat's there was a sign outside that said " Catacombs are open to the public today." I went down in the basement where tombs run the from Mott St. as far over as the Hudson river. The names of those buried in the walls etc. were all Irish. The dates were in the 1840's during the famine years. I was born and raised in Manhattan, went to catholic schools as did my Mother and Father and none of us ever heard of the history of that Cathedral . Since then I have read every thing I could about St. Pat's, the school and don't forget the rectory where " Dagger John" begged the draft rioter's to stop to stop. So much Irish American history is disappearing.
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cavantown | Dec 07, 2010, 12:12 PM EST
You should visit Fatima...the church is decked out in jewels and marble and
granite in unbelievable quantity...yet the people who live at the base of the
mountain beg in the streets for food for their children.
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