Closure of NY parish named after Pinoy saint imminent

NEW YORK — The future of the Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz in Manhattan hangs precariously in the balance. Long time chapel director Fr. Erno Diaz is slated to be replaced, and there is an online petition calling on Filipinos to "save the chapel." A farewell dinner for Fr. Erno was held Jan. 25 at a nearby Chinatown restaurant. "In the midst of such uncertainty and confusion, we urge all Filipinos, San Lorenzo groups and church organizations to remember the intentions of the Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz in your daily prayers, novenas and Masses…This is the time for Filipinos around the world to unite in prayer: sign to demonstrate your support! Help save the Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz in New York!" says the petition. The target is one million signatures by February. The organizers said that they would print a copy of the "Global Appeal" and present it to Edward Cardinal Egan. Economics and poor attendance are putting the squeeze on the San Lorenzo Ruiz chapel, which opened in September 2005 to cater to Filipino Americans, a vast Catholic community in the New York Tri-State (including New Jersey and Connecticut). It is named after the Filipino martyr who was elevated to sainthood by the Vatican in 1987. In 2005, the chapel officially became a gathering place for FilAm community activities that are religious and sometimes cultural in nature. It can accommodate as many as 250 people, and is run by the Philippine Pastoral Center, headed by Fr. Erno Diaz. It is touted as the second church dedicated to Filipinos outside the Philippines; the first one in Rome called The Basilica of Sta. Pudenciana was founded in 1991. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has heard mass at the San Lorenzo Ruiz chapel on occasions she would visit the United Nations General Assembly and meet with the Filipino-American community. On regular days however, the chapel offers masses, and is a venue for weddings, christenings and funerals, not exclusive to Fil-Ams. The chapel website says “it welcomes all peoples regardless of ethnicity and background to attend its services." The Christmas and Lenten seasons are the busiest time for the chapel. Speculations about the chapel’s future have been floating around for some time because, according to sources, it has not generated the kind of following that the Archdiocese of New York had hoped it would. Had there been a dynamic stream of people coming to the chapel, they say, it would have been elevated into a full-fledged parish church. Instead, it is now facing the possibility of closure. The replacement of Fr. Erno is said to be the first step. A performance review of the San Lorenzo Ruiz chapel is not unusual. Philippine News learned that other ethnic Catholic centers have been padlocked as part of the Archdiocese’s “realignment" efforts. One of the most recent closures is the Our Lady of Vilnius established in 1905 for Lithuanian New Yorkers. It had its final services in 2007. Other ethnic churches closed as part of realignment are the Church of St. Adelbert in the Bronx serving the Polish community; the Church of St. Adelbert in Manhattan or the Belgian National Parish; and the Church of St. Ann, formerly known as the Armenian Rite Cathedral & Shrine. The Archdiocese is not targeting ethnic churches in the realignment. Regular parishes that consistently report low attendance are candidates for closures and/or mergers, just like Catholic schools with poor enrollment. The idea behind ethnic churches and/or chapels is to serve communities with a large Catholic following, offering traditional services including the use of the ethnic language. In the case of the San Lorenzo Ruiz chapel, masses in Tagalog are available. For New York resident of 14 years Hernan Hormillosa, the chapel was a comforting refuge in moments of homesickness.“I feel I am back home and safe in its small, but warm ambience, secure from the strange, dizzying world of fast-paced New York, a veritable Tower of Babel at times with its polyglot population and 24/7 insomniac attitude," Hormillosa, a psychotherapist, told Philippine News. Closing the chapel would cut the main spiritual lifeline of immigrant Filipinos with their “fledgling faith," an act that he finds not only disrespectful but for the most part “cruel." - Philippine News