ADDITIONAL CLARIFICATION ABOUT THE TRANSITION

FROM FATHER STEVE

FAQ’s to concerns received about the transition from friars to the diocese.

Q1) With the announcement that the friars are withdrawing from St. Joseph, will the church and school be closing? ANSWER: No. Both entities are fully viable and will remain open for the foreseeable future.

Q2) Will the changeover to the diocese effect upcoming events that have already been planned? ANSWER: Not likely. Of course, the new pastor will have the prerogative to do so. Generally speaking, new pastors avoid making any major changes the first year of their administration.

Q3) Was the decision to move the friars from St. Joseph made by Bishop Gainer? ANSWER: No. The decision was made by the Provincial Council of our order. It was then communicated to Bishop Gainer.

Q4) When is the changeover to take place? ANSWER: Sunday June 18.    Bishop Gainer will celebrate the closing Mass at 11:30. We are inviting all Capuchins who have served at St. Joseph to be in attendance. It should be quite the celebration with a reception following.

Q5) Do we know who the diocesan replacements are? ANSWER: Not yet. The notice for the priests of the diocese to apply for the positions of Pastor and Vicar of SJY have just gone out. There will be a vetting process that will follow. As soon as I know the results, I will let you know.

Q6) Why do the Capuchins have to leave? ANSWER: The decision to leave was made at the behest of the will of the friars of St. Augustine who charged the new provincial team that was elected last year (consisting of the Provincial and his consultative board of 4 friars) , with 4 main goals to be enacted during their three-year term (triennium). These were:
1) Our ministries must reflect our Franciscan charism to work with the materially poor.
2) Every Capuchin friary should constitute a minimum of 4 friars (up from the previous 3) to make it a stable and viable community/fraternity.
3) We must work to actively support our missions (Puerto Rico and Papua New Guinea) not just financially but also with an infusion of new friars.
4) Re-establish a hermitage (think of hermits of old living in isolation). This is an intentional community that is set apart to pray for the Order and other intentions.

The first two mandates played a substantial role in how and why the decision was made to return York to the diocese. As Fr. Bob explained at the Masses last weekend (and spelled out in his official letter), when we friars were invited by the diocese to come to St. Joseph (then located on Princess Street), the parish was struggling. Then it made sense for us to accept the offer as it dovetailed with our charism.

But after we moved the church to the thriving and growing area of East York (on land that the late Monsignor Topper had the foresight to purchase and build a school on), the situation changed. Thanks to the hard work of the parishioners and staff of St. Joseph, along with the men in brown habits and sandals, St. Joseph can now stand on its own.

Our school, with its bevy of excellent administrators, staff, and teachers (we boast of 5 Golden Apple award winners) has turned the corner in enrollment. Next year all the grades will have 2 classes each.  Here at the parish, we are returning to pre-Covid levels for attendance and our financial picture is strong. So are the various ministries of the parish.

In that sense, our Capuchin mission here is accomplished. Now we must take our charism and place it at the service of struggling parishes that need help. The Capuchin-lead parish of St. Francis Assisi on Market Street in Harrisburg, for instance, is in a poor neighborhood of the city; it has a soup kitchen and is immigrant-rich with mostly poor Latinos who struggle to make ends meet. Our province is committed to continuing our ministry there.

As far as a viable fraternity goes, we have had difficulty keeping three friars here these past four years. After Fr. Tage left (and is now serving in Papua New Guinea), Fr. Jim with his failing health, Fr. Rigo and Fr. John Baptist going on to further studies, that left only yours truly. The province would have to find three more friars to fulfill the mandate of the province. Currently our demographics of 115 friars shows us having a bulk of guys who are retired and in ill health in St. Augustine (our motherhouse in Pittsburgh) and another group still in formation. The middle area is thin with friars who are available for active ministries.

Our province is collaborating with some of the custodies in India, Nigeria and Tanzania to send us men who can help us both here and in our missions. Also, with the diocese of Pittsburgh and soon Baltimore going through mergers and consolidations, the outlook for religious orders is a bit volatile these days.

But we must trust in the Holy Spirit to guide us through the changes we face. Sometimes when I get frustrated at things not going according to my plans for the parish, I look up to the heavens and say, “Lord this is your church. I am just your servant. Give me your wisdom to be the shepherd you have called me to be for St. Joseph.”

My sisters and brothers, St. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthian church regarding reports of disunity among them, wrote: “I have heard some of you saying, ‘I am a follower of Paul’. Others are saying, ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Peter,’ or ‘I follow only Christ.’ Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!... It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (I Cor. 1: 12-13,30)

So, as we embark on our Lenten journey to which has been added the communal cross of the parish changing hands from the “men in brown” to the “men in black”, keep the focus on the fact that we are one body in Christ. And that by His grace we are.

God bless you.

Fr Steve