Quote Originally Posted by SWMAP View Post
That I know of, the AoD did not ever "abandon" a church or building. However, about 20 years ago, the AoD did have an initiative to sell the churches of closed parishes to other Christian congregations in the city for a very low amount -VERY low amounts - to hopefully allow those congregations to establish themselves in beautiful surroundings. That sometimes worked, but more often THOSE congregations eventually abandoned their purchases. As of now, the AoD will only sell to churches that can demonstrate viability. As well, the AoD will sell a building for a "profane" use [[condos, etc) where it would not previously.
St. Stanislaus is a very good example of a now-derelict church that was abandoned by it's second congregation. St. Monica is another. St. Cyril is a good example. In the case of St. Rita, the AoD had 24-7 security pending a sale, but the plant is so big that the stripping was uncontrollable. Eventually the AoD sold that huge plant for pennies. Not sure what shape it is in now.
While I would say that technically they didn't abandon the churches they built, they sure didn't try to keep tabs on them after they passed them off. Instead, after a century or so of building churches that could rival European masterpieces, they followed the money to the suburbs and for the most part, built mid to late 20th century blahness.