Published: December 02, 2008 09:06 pm            

St. Stephen’s chosen as Cambria City worship site

Since 1911, the majestic twin bell towers of St. Stephen’s church have been a Johnstown landmark.

In eight months, those towers will serve another purpose: They will mark the only functioning Roman Catholic church remaining in the Cambria City neighborhood.







After months of study, Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese officials announced Tuesday that they have chosen the Fourth Avenue church as the neighborhood’s new, consolidated worship site.

That means three other churches – Immaculate Conception, St. Columba and SS. Casimir and Emerich – will close in July. Another church, St. Rochus, will serve as “part of the new parish complex,” although Mass will not be celebrated there.

“This is not an easy decision,” Bishop Joseph Adamec said at a Johnstown news conference Tuesday night.

Citing declining population and a dwindling number of priests throughout the diocese, Adamec announced the Cambria City merger plan in February.

The news was greeted with shock and, in some cases, outrage from parishioners and from locals who see the churches as invaluable symbols of the city’s ethnic, working-class heritage.

Adamec acknowledged that history in his speech Tuesday, saying the churches have been “nurturing the faith of those whose forebears came to the United States to forge for future descendants a better life than what they had.”

But, he added, “time changes where and how people live.”

Time also has taken a toll on Cambria City’s famed houses of worship. Adamec said a diocesan engineering study showed that St. Stephen’s and St. Columba were in the best condition.

“The others would need substantial, significant repairs,” he said.

While Masses will continue to be held at St. Stephen’s, Adamec said the church “will have a new name and a new pastor” – meaning the neighborhood’s current priests will be reassigned.

Adamec called for the formation of a “transitional council” to aid the merger. The council will be made up of two members of each of the five parishes, with the current priests serving as advisers.

“We are at a juncture now where we need to proceed with an orderly and effective transition,” Adamec said.

It will be up to the new parish’s pastor and council to decide the fate of the three churches that are closing.

That has been a major concern for historians and concerned citizens. Some fear that the shuttered buildings will meet the same fate as the former St. Emerich’s, which had stood on Chestnut Street but was demolished in 2003.

A volunteer group called Save Our Steeples has been attempting to lay the groundwork for protecting Cambria City’s churches even after they close.

“We are hopeful the diocese is committed, as they previously stated, to working with us to preserve the integrity of the church buildings as much as possible,” the group said in a written statement.

On Tuesday, Adamec said preservation “would be the preferred option.” He later added that “I don’t know whether any will be torn down.”

A handful of parishioners and priests were on hand for Adamec’s announcement.

Among them was Ed Gregorchik, who has seen upheaval in the neighborhood’s churches firsthand: He is a lifetime member of St. Casimir’s church, which absorbed many of St. Emerich’s parishioners in a 1997 consolidation.

The church where Gregorchik was baptized in 1945 survived that merger. It is now clear, though, that the building will not be hosting Mass much longer.

“There’s a sadness, of course,” Gregorchik said. “But it’s something you have to deal with.”

The fact that St. Rochus will continue to be used for unspecified parish functions likely is small comfort for those who attend the century-old church.

“We were hoping for a different outcome,” St. Rochus parishioner Bernie Chalich said. “It’s a tough decision. I don’t envy (Adamec) at all. From our point of view, we’re saddened by it.”

The Rev. Andrew Stanko, St. Stephen’s pastor, acknowledged “mixed feelings” though his church was chosen to remain open.

“I really feel sorry for the people who are going to lose their churches,” Stanko said.

Stanko added that he believes parishioners will make the merger work.

“Every time there’s a death, there is a corresponding resurrection,” he said. “Whenever God closes one door, he opens another.”



Tribune-Democrat staff reporter Patrick Buchnowski contributed to this report.

        

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