Quote Originally Posted by poobert View Post
All of you are so damn quick to slam the Catholic Church for leaving Detroit when it is really the only major institution of any kind that still has a presence throughout the city. 90% of Metro Detroit Catholics live in the suburbs, and, despicably, many of them would even pillage the city like Gushi and outright move the churches PHYSICALLY to their sprawlburbs. Yet a disproportionate number of parishes HAVE remained open despite all this.
The white mainline protestant denominations left 50 years ago except for a couple historic parishes each yet it isn't fashionable to go persecute them.
Yet the Catholic church is still operating parishes, soup kitchens, high schools, literacy centers, UNIVERSITIES in a largely non-Catholic city...and what do you do that's so special?
To be fair many of us do support the Catholic Church and the AOD with time, treasure, and talent and realize the difficult task of supporting all facets of Catholic stewartship with limited financial resources and more poignantly limited religious personnel. It is indeed obvious to most that the Catholic demographics within the AOD have changed drastically just over the last generation and supporting parishes with a grand edifice and scant membership needs review...Hence Parish consolidation and/or closing are a forced issue. This is what this thread is about.... There is [[was) an opportunity for a priest to remain in the AOD and serve as Pastor but the decison was to release him not to another Parish within the AOD but overseas. Many are wondering why. It has been suggested that because he is from Nigeria that his time of service is limited here in the AOD [[specifically at St. Jude). But it was understood that there was [[is) an opportunity to remain here and serve as Pastor. I am not a current member of St. Jude Parish but know Fr. Jovita and how much he is loved and respected within the community of northeast Detroit.