Well the pictures are up on Flickr and on the banner, but I haven't had time to integrate them with the article, here, yet. In any case, I wanted to at least include the link to the article in the Gloucester County Times. I haven't read it thoroughly yet but skimmed it and it looks great! I'd again like to say THANK YOU to the GCT and the photographer/writer who came out to the event.
Click here to read GCT article
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I just returned home from the rally we had today outside St. Charles Borromeo Church in Sicklerville. First, I would like to say a long overdue and heartfelt THANK YOU to the holy and faithful priests who are struggling to do the right thing in this difficult situation. I admire you all. I was so happy to see Father Timothy Byerly entering the church for the meeting with the bishop today, and also our own faithful pastor of Mater Ecclesiae, Father Robert Pasley. Both of these priests (as well as some others who I did not know) greeted us, Fr. Byerly stopped to speak to a few people on his way in, and Father Pasley said, "I'll be praying for you." Thank you, both. We will keep you in our prayers as well, be assured. We love you both and I for one do not let a day go past without thanking God for Fr. Pasley, my own pastor, and also for Father Romanowski, pastor of St. Mary's Malaga. [An aside--I do not mean to imply here that any particular priests are for or against the bishop's scheme. Certainly--at least to some degree--they can speak for themselves, if they are brave enough. I only mean to say that many of the priests greeted us cheerfully as good priests ought to great the faithful. However I do strongly suspect that many priests in the diocese vigorously disagree with the bishop's strong-armed approach and plans to close viable churches. How freely they feel they can speak is another matter. It may be up to us laypeople to be the loudest voices.] Good and holy priests are not people who should be taken for granted because the devil himself is after all those who pledge to serve God. They provide us the sacraments and the Eucharist from their holy hands! Let us pray for them daily.
There were several dozen of us there at the rally. I did not count heads but I estimate somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 people showed. It was a Thursday morning and I must admit that I wonder if the bishop schedules these meetings at such times so protests can be minimized. People, after all, have to work. I, however, work in the afternoons and evenings so I am able to go. There were people at the rally from the following parishes (please correct me if I missed any):
St. Anthony's, Waterford (yet another beautiful little church I've been to many times)
St. Mary's, Malaga
St. Bartholomew's, Camden
Queen of Peace, Pitman
St. John Vianney, Deptford (again, a wonderful little church)
(And of course me, from Mater Ecclesiae, but on behalf of St. Mary's, Malaga)
I suspect I missed a couple churches so somebody jump in here!
I think we were all somewhat surprised to see Bishop Galante head up the main entrance via the handicapped ramp. (I'm sorry to say that I didn't get any good shots of him, only one blurry one.) I think many of us assumed he'd be slipped in a side door somewhere. As he walked up, I noticed that he does not look at all well. His complexion is somewhat grayish and he was noticeably struggling up the ramp somewhat slowly. Most of all, he had a miserable look on his face and refused to address the crowd in any way. One of the women said, "Bishop, why don't you talk with us?" He shot us some unhappy glances but mostly ignored us. He does not appear a happy or peaceful man at this time. Let us pray that the Holy Ghost is working on him and trying to penetrate the layers of darkness so evidently surrounding him. Let us also pray that he is able to hear the concerns of the good and faithful priests, and that those holy priests are given the words and gumption to say what needs to be said to the bishop. Let those good priests speak on behalf of the faithful.
It was good to see that the Gloucester County Times was on the scene. Two lovely, youthful, women--a photographer and reporter--were present taking names, stories, and pictures of the rally. Both were very sweet and I'm certain will do a really good job with the article they produce. It will be good to get some publicity. Thank you to the Gloucester County Times for coming.
It is the hope of the Council of Parishes leaders to have another big rally soon, presumably with buses, in Camden outside the cathedral/diocesan offices.
Please feel free to leave comments here if you attended the rally or have any questions, etc.
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Thurs 5/8: The Bishop will be there!
Please come to the rally/picketing event outside St. Charles Borromeo church in Sicklerville starting around 9 AM lasting about an hour or more. He will be meeting with the pastors of the proposed merged churches to talk about how to implement the mergers. St. Charles Borromeo Church is located at 176 Stagecoach Road, Sicklerville, 08081. Here is a link to the church's website:
Click here for St. Charles Borromeo Church website
Here is a link to their directions page:
Directions to St. Charles Borromeo church
You may call Kevin to RSVP or ask any questions about the event. His phone number is
Though Father Romanowski did not get to speak directly with Bishop Galante last Friday May 2nd, he should be there on Thursday so now's the time to show up and let him know how important our parishes are to us.
Feel free to leave any comments below.
Click here to read GCT article
******************************************************
I just returned home from the rally we had today outside St. Charles Borromeo Church in Sicklerville. First, I would like to say a long overdue and heartfelt THANK YOU to the holy and faithful priests who are struggling to do the right thing in this difficult situation. I admire you all. I was so happy to see Father Timothy Byerly entering the church for the meeting with the bishop today, and also our own faithful pastor of Mater Ecclesiae, Father Robert Pasley. Both of these priests (as well as some others who I did not know) greeted us, Fr. Byerly stopped to speak to a few people on his way in, and Father Pasley said, "I'll be praying for you." Thank you, both. We will keep you in our prayers as well, be assured. We love you both and I for one do not let a day go past without thanking God for Fr. Pasley, my own pastor, and also for Father Romanowski, pastor of St. Mary's Malaga. [An aside--I do not mean to imply here that any particular priests are for or against the bishop's scheme. Certainly--at least to some degree--they can speak for themselves, if they are brave enough. I only mean to say that many of the priests greeted us cheerfully as good priests ought to great the faithful. However I do strongly suspect that many priests in the diocese vigorously disagree with the bishop's strong-armed approach and plans to close viable churches. How freely they feel they can speak is another matter. It may be up to us laypeople to be the loudest voices.] Good and holy priests are not people who should be taken for granted because the devil himself is after all those who pledge to serve God. They provide us the sacraments and the Eucharist from their holy hands! Let us pray for them daily.
There were several dozen of us there at the rally. I did not count heads but I estimate somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 people showed. It was a Thursday morning and I must admit that I wonder if the bishop schedules these meetings at such times so protests can be minimized. People, after all, have to work. I, however, work in the afternoons and evenings so I am able to go. There were people at the rally from the following parishes (please correct me if I missed any):
St. Anthony's, Waterford (yet another beautiful little church I've been to many times)
St. Mary's, Malaga
St. Bartholomew's, Camden
Queen of Peace, Pitman
St. John Vianney, Deptford (again, a wonderful little church)
(And of course me, from Mater Ecclesiae, but on behalf of St. Mary's, Malaga)
I suspect I missed a couple churches so somebody jump in here!
I think we were all somewhat surprised to see Bishop Galante head up the main entrance via the handicapped ramp. (I'm sorry to say that I didn't get any good shots of him, only one blurry one.) I think many of us assumed he'd be slipped in a side door somewhere. As he walked up, I noticed that he does not look at all well. His complexion is somewhat grayish and he was noticeably struggling up the ramp somewhat slowly. Most of all, he had a miserable look on his face and refused to address the crowd in any way. One of the women said, "Bishop, why don't you talk with us?" He shot us some unhappy glances but mostly ignored us. He does not appear a happy or peaceful man at this time. Let us pray that the Holy Ghost is working on him and trying to penetrate the layers of darkness so evidently surrounding him. Let us also pray that he is able to hear the concerns of the good and faithful priests, and that those holy priests are given the words and gumption to say what needs to be said to the bishop. Let those good priests speak on behalf of the faithful.
It was good to see that the Gloucester County Times was on the scene. Two lovely, youthful, women--a photographer and reporter--were present taking names, stories, and pictures of the rally. Both were very sweet and I'm certain will do a really good job with the article they produce. It will be good to get some publicity. Thank you to the Gloucester County Times for coming.
It is the hope of the Council of Parishes leaders to have another big rally soon, presumably with buses, in Camden outside the cathedral/diocesan offices.
Please feel free to leave comments here if you attended the rally or have any questions, etc.
********************************************
Thurs 5/8: The Bishop will be there!
Please come to the rally/picketing event outside St. Charles Borromeo church in Sicklerville starting around 9 AM lasting about an hour or more. He will be meeting with the pastors of the proposed merged churches to talk about how to implement the mergers. St. Charles Borromeo Church is located at 176 Stagecoach Road, Sicklerville, 08081. Here is a link to the church's website:
Click here for St. Charles Borromeo Church website
Here is a link to their directions page:
Directions to St. Charles Borromeo church
You may call Kevin to RSVP or ask any questions about the event. His phone number is
856-694-2748.Though Father Romanowski did not get to speak directly with Bishop Galante last Friday May 2nd, he should be there on Thursday so now's the time to show up and let him know how important our parishes are to us.
Feel free to leave any comments below.
Thank you to all who are participating tomorrow! I can't make it due to a prior obligation, but I'll be praying for you while you're out there.
From what I'm hearing, it sounds like the movement to keep our churches open is gaining momentum - congratulations and keep up the good work!
Thanks to all who participated this morning. We had a very good turnout - at least 50 people from St. Mary's, Queen of Peace, St. John Vianney, St. Gregory, St. Vincent Pallotti, St. Anthony (Waterford), St. Bartholemew, and others. Let's keep up the good work! We will be heard.
There is a great article about the rally in the Gloucester County Times today. For the first time that I've seen in the media, this reporter went the extra mile in starting to expose the "gaps in logic or fact" (wouldn't want to call them lies) in the Bishop's reasoning. AW talked in circles - yes, we will have a priest shortage, but no, that's not why we're doing this. Never addressed why they declined to accept priests who were willing to come to the diocese to work.
Slowly but surely, the truth will come out!