The following email was sent to Save St. Mary's from Jo-Ann Zeilman, a St. Mary's Parishioner. Since it reflects the thoughts of so many parishioners at St. Mary's and throughout the Diocese, we wanted to share it:
It truly amazes me how the Bishop can replace a priest that so loves his church and community. Let's see - the new pastor has other churches he serves at, as well as a school. His plate is very full. And yet the Bishop still replaces a priest that does a very good job serving our parish.
A shortage of priests? How? When you take one priest away from a parish and replace him with a priest that already has two other churches and a high school to serve at? How can this be? I will tell you - he (the dear Bishop) does this out of spite. He is doing this to get back at everyone at St. Mary's. Can you believe this??
You know, I always looked up to the Catholic religion, but I can say that every day, more and more, I am truly losing faith. There is truly a great empty spot. My daughter, who just turned 9 on Saturday, asked me today in church, "Mommy, why is Father not allowed to be our priest anymore?" Does anyone really have the answer to explain this to her? I wonder if the Bishop can truly be honest and tell my daughter the real reason why he does what he does. My children look up to Father and have the greatest respect for him. I can honestly say bringing my girls to St. Mary's in the last 12 years has had a great impact on their lives. They learned a great deal about life at St. Mary's. They are good kids.
It is hard to believe that a Bishop can try to shut down a parish and, on top of that, take away a priest that loves his parish, a man that gave his life to the priesthood and devoted his life fully to God.
I know in my heart that God would not want this to take place, but life has so many unanswered reasons why things take place. But you know, the Bishop has to live with the things he does. He may not feel it now, but in due time. I just want to say that Fr. Romanowski is a good man and he has been an asset and blessing to St.
Mary's Church. He has made St. Mary's a wonderful church, one I am proud to be a part of. St. Mary's has so many wonderful things about it - it's a family church and when you start to have things change, it takes a great piece from your heart.
If, and I say "if," the parish closes, I must say, I think it will close my heart to the Catholic Church. Maybe I am wrong, but I sometimes think money is more important to the Camden Diocese than the people of the churches are. May God bless us all and I want to thank God for letting us have Fr. Romanowski for our priest at St. Mary's. We were so, so blessed with the grace of him serving at our parish.
It truly amazes me how the Bishop can replace a priest that so loves his church and community. Let's see - the new pastor has other churches he serves at, as well as a school. His plate is very full. And yet the Bishop still replaces a priest that does a very good job serving our parish.A shortage of priests? How? When you take one priest away from a parish and replace him with a priest that already has two other churches and a high school to serve at? How can this be? I will tell you - he (the dear Bishop) does this out of spite. He is doing this to get back at everyone at St. Mary's. Can you believe this??
You know, I always looked up to the Catholic religion, but I can say that every day, more and more, I am truly losing faith. There is truly a great empty spot. My daughter, who just turned 9 on Saturday, asked me today in church, "Mommy, why is Father not allowed to be our priest anymore?" Does anyone really have the answer to explain this to her? I wonder if the Bishop can truly be honest and tell my daughter the real reason why he does what he does. My children look up to Father and have the greatest respect for him. I can honestly say bringing my girls to St. Mary's in the last 12 years has had a great impact on their lives. They learned a great deal about life at St. Mary's. They are good kids.
It is hard to believe that a Bishop can try to shut down a parish and, on top of that, take away a priest that loves his parish, a man that gave his life to the priesthood and devoted his life fully to God.I know in my heart that God would not want this to take place, but life has so many unanswered reasons why things take place. But you know, the Bishop has to live with the things he does. He may not feel it now, but in due time. I just want to say that Fr. Romanowski is a good man and he has been an asset and blessing to St.
Mary's Church. He has made St. Mary's a wonderful church, one I am proud to be a part of. St. Mary's has so many wonderful things about it - it's a family church and when you start to have things change, it takes a great piece from your heart.If, and I say "if," the parish closes, I must say, I think it will close my heart to the Catholic Church. Maybe I am wrong, but I sometimes think money is more important to the Camden Diocese than the people of the churches are. May God bless us all and I want to thank God for letting us have Fr. Romanowski for our priest at St. Mary's. We were so, so blessed with the grace of him serving at our parish.