Christianity in Philadelphias inner
city
By NCR Staff
However stressful ecclesial politics might be in some Philadelphia
quarters, church happens on the streets, bringing renewal and hope to city
neighborhoods.
People talk about St. Vincent here as if theyd had
supper with him last night, said St. Joseph Sr. Eileen Smith of St.
Vincents parish in Germantown. The parish, operated by Vincentian
priests, is named for St. Vincent de Paul, a 17th-century French priest noted
for his work among the poor.
Smith collaborates with a priest and four paid members of the
laity, overseeing what she calls kitchen table ministry in
Germantown, a neighborhood where blocks of gracious old homes alternate with
blocks of blight. Parish outreach includes a weekend meal program that serves
hundreds, legal and health clinics, summer camp and art-related activities
directed by visiting artists. Volunteers have helped rehabilitate some 30
houses, turning them into rentals for single mothers and their children.
The parish programs, unusual in the area for their breadth,
operate with the help of archdiocesan networks and a broad base of support in
the suburbs and even among non-Catholics, Smith said.
Mercy Sr. Mary Scullion, regarded in Philadelphia as an icon for
her work with homeless people, heads up Project H.O.M.E. The 10-year-old
program has earned a national reputation for its efforts to break the cycle of
homelessness by addressing underlying problems: shortage of affordable housing,
lack of employment, education and health care.
Sometimes it also involves just going out and inviting the
homeless in. Scullion has been known to crawl down utility holes and prowl
through alleys in search of people who might need shelter. And sometimes it
involves programs for youth. Project H.O.M.E.s Foot Stompers, an
energetic drill team, was the subject of a story in The New York Times
in January.
Operating with a staff of 130, including 40 people who were once
homeless and hundreds of volunteers, the organization has rehabbed more than
200 housing units for homeless people. Nearly 50 more units will be under
construction soon, she said, some to sell to the working poor and others to
rent cheaply.
Scullions work is so well known today that she attracts big
dollars. Rena Rowan, the designer who cofounded Jones New York, has committed
to giving $1.5 million for 75 new housing units for homeless women and
children, and a foundation agreed to match it. Sisters of Mercy and Sisters of
St. Francis, religious orders that operate big hospitals, have given
Scullions project $1 million each. The Crown Cork and Seal Company, an
international can company in Northeast Philadelphia, made a $2.5 million
commitment that has helped turn some former Catholic rectories and schools into
community and youth centers.
The project has achieved high visibility not only for its ongoing
work but also for its political advocacy on behalf of homeless people.
Right now, Scullion said, were in the midst of
organizing. The reason: a new sidewalk control bill, passed
by the city council, that makes it illegal to sleep on streets.
Another nun who operates a program independent of the archdiocese,
Sr. Carol Keck, said the North Philadelphia area she works in, known as Norris
Square, has been negatively affected by parish closings. As churches have
closed, neighborhoods have been left without an anchor, she said.
Many storefront churches are coming in, many of them Pentecostal,
she said. The lively worship style of Pentecostal churches attracts Latin
Americans, she said. The growth of Pentecostal churches has been
phenomenal around here.
She noted that an evangelization center started by the
Philadelphia archdiocese and staffed by a Cuban priest had been effective in
keeping some people in the church.
Keck, of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, has been involved for
23 years in the Norris Square Neighborhood Project, first as a teacher and then
as principal at a Catholic school in the area, and finally, for the past 10
years, as executive director of the neighborhood project.
The programs thrust is environmental. Workers have
established some 38 gardens, all on city lots. Benefits are multiple. The
gardens provide beauty, education, cross-cultural sharing and low-priced food,
she said.
Area residents have also collaborated to combat drug sales.
Cleaning up vacant lots has significantly reduced the number of hiding places
dealers can use, she said. And by working with the city to get empty buildings
torn down, residents have eliminated many users hangouts. Some 250
volunteers turned out a few years ago to turn part of a six-acre park known as
needle park into a playground.
Keck looks for the official church to do more. She envisions
former Catholic churches, convents and schools being given new life as
community centers. Theres so much potential for the church to
become a community development corporation here, she said.
Germantowns Smith said cluster planning sponsored by the
Philadelphia archdiocese had been underway for a couple of years. She said she
hopes all remaining churches will remain open.
The limits of finances have to be addressed, but there could
be ways of redefining parish life without closing more parishes. I hope
were learning from mistakes in other places, she said.
One North Philadelphia parish unscathed by archdiocesan
reorganization is St. Malachys. Under the leadership of Fr. John McNamee,
author of the widely-read Diary of a City Priest, the parish draws city
and suburban residents alike to its vibrant liturgies.
If Scullion is an icon, McNamee is a legend. Inspired by the
writings of Fr. Daniel Berrigan, Jesuit activist noted for his antiwar
demonstrations, McNamee has worked in the inner city for more than 30 years,
starting out in West Philadelphia.
I dont have all the solutions, the answers for
them, McNamee told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1996, speaking of
his disenfranchised neighbors. But I will walk with them, search with
them and be with them.
National Catholic Reporter, June 19,
1998
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