Hello Everyone,
I have some very disturbing news to report today. I went past St. John's this afternoon and saw a gigantic lift in the parking lot. Fearing the worst I looked up and saw that the cross on the top of the church had been removed.
I talked to some people from St. Pascal's that were working in the church. I asked where the cross went hoping to salvage it. They said it broke while it was being removed and was already in the dumpster. I tried to get some photos but it was mostly covered by parts of one of the confessionals. Apparently the confessionals aren't being saved in their entirety.
They had some other information:
1) They think a sale is getting very near but don't know any details.
2) After the church and school buildings were inspected earlier this year by the city of St. Paul, St. Pascal's was ordered to get rid of all the stuff that remained in the church basement and in the school for fire safety reasons. That filled four dumpsters.
3) The inspectors also found black mold in the handicap ramp and the wall in the church. That is a health risk and had to be removed. That explains the current work on the ramp and wall.
4) Representatives from the Archdiocese have been through the church a number of times. It was the Archdiocese that ordered the removal of everything Catholic.
5) With regards to the stained glass windows:
The windows can stay but the religious symbols in the circles on each one have to go.
A stained glass company was called in to assess the situation.
If the entire panel has to be removed the cost would be $3,000 each.
However the symbols are most likely painted on and it might be possible to remove them using a scraper or paint remover of some kind.
The windows in the two sacristies have to be removed because they are obviously religious. I asked if they would be available for purchase but they didn't know.
6) They didn't know what will be happening with the remaining altars or or portions thereof but assume they will have to be removed soon.
It obvious now that we haven't been getting the whole story from St. Pascal's, not that they owe us anything. For what it's worth, it's not just us who have been kept in the dark. I talked to people on the local neighborhood community council and they aren't happy either because they have never been contacted about anything connected with St. John's either before or since its closing. It is customary to keep the community council and the neighborhood in general informed of major projects but apparently the Archdiocese is following their standard policy of doing everything in secret.
I'll try to keep watch on what's going on but things are moving quickly and I'm not around all the time.
Note: Ron or anyone else who knows people who would like to get on our mailing list, please send me their email addresses and I'll add them to the list.
Greg
St. John's as it looked for the past 91 years
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St. John's Church today
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Parts of a confessional in dumpster
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Cross in dumpster
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COMMENTS
June 03, 2014
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/muslim_group_can_remove_crosses_from_church_to_make_it_a_mosque.html
It has happened before and it will continue to happen. Who would have EVER imagined it would happen here.
The lack of transparency is an absolute shame.
I am so tired of the outright lies and misinformation.
Is there anything we can do? Is there anyway to stop this? Will the altar just be chopped up and put in a dumpster which is where I presume Saint Joseph landed because he has not been accounted for?
I can not imagine the media would be sympathetic. Glee might be the operative word.
June 09, 2014
Hi All
Not much left of it.
Chris rescued these pieces from the dumpster before we were told to stay out of them.
Chris got a call from St. Pascals today, and they left a message that the sale of St. Johns will be taking place June 20th.
Greg
This is all there is from the cross on the top of our Church.
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