St. Patrick’s likely to stay open

Johnstown pastor says building best suited to handle parish’s needs

By MICHAEL ANICH, The Leader-Herald

JOHNSTOWN - The pastor of Holy Trinity Parish said today it appears St. Patrick's Church will be the one of the city's three Roman Catholic churches to remain open.

Although no final decision has been made locally or by the Albany Catholic Diocese, the Rev. Kenneth Swain, parish pastor, said that may end up being the final recommendation to come out of his parish.

If St. Patrick's Church at Clinton and Glebe streets stays open, Immaculate Conception Church and St. Anthony's Church eventually would close.

The diocese announced in January that two of Johnstown's three Roman Catholic churches would close.

Immaculate Conception Church already has been holding a limited morning Mass schedule, with no Masses on the weekends.

Diocese Communications Department Director Ken Goldfarb said last week the diocese and Bishop Howard Hubbard were waiting on the local parish's final recommendation on which church to keep open. No timeframe has been set by the diocese for actual closings, but the diocese did say previously it hoped to at least make a decision by Wednesday.

Swain said a parishwide meeting was conducted Monday night at Immaculate Conception Hall and an architect gave a final report on each of the three churches. He declined to name the architectural firm that did the analysis.

"The architectural firm felt St. Patrick's was the best place to stay open," Swain said. "I don't anticipate a change to that recommendation."

Swain said keeping St. Patrick's Church open "makes sense to me" for several reasons. He said it is the best comprehensive site for future worship services, administration of the parish, religious education and the pastor's residence.

The way the process now works, Swain said, is that the architect's recommendation now goes to the Holy Trinity Parish Facilities Committee, which will meet Wednesday night at the parish office. He said there could be a recommendation from that panel, which may be placed on the parish's Pastoral Council agenda for a meeting next week.

Swain said the council eventually will make a final recommendation to the bishop.

Goldfarb said last week that Hubbard will have the final say on which two Johnstown churches are closed and which one stays open.

"Any closing of the parish site is the responsibility of the bishop," the diocese spokesman said.

He also said it was Hubbard's "call" as to when the churches will be shut down.

In Gloversville, the diocese already has decided to close Sacred Heart Church on Kingsboro Avenue and keep St. Mary of Mount Carmel Church on South Main Street open. Sacred Heart may officially close by October, church officials announced earlier this month.

In the city of Amsterdam, St. John the Baptist and St. Michael's closed in February, and St. Casimir's closed May 3.

The diocese in January said that after two years, more than 600 meetings and input from more than 10,000 Catholics across the Albany diocese, the final decisions of the diocese's planning process have been reached.

The grassroots planning process involved thousands of Catholics across the diocese in shaping the future of the church - specifically, aligning its physical, financial and personnel resources in a way that would serve the greatest number of Catholics now and in the future, while preserving the church's commitment to inner cities, the poor, elderly and infirm, and other vulnerable populations. Thirty-eight local planning groups - made up of parish leaders and lay parishioners - studied issues on a neighborhood and regional level across the 14 counties of the diocese.

Diocese officials said the changes in parish alignment are driven by the fact most cities across the Albany Diocese have lost between 25 percent and 39 percent of their populations since 1960, with the notable exception of Saratoga Springs.

Michael Anich covers Johnstown and Fulton County news. He can be reached at johnstown@leaderherald.com