The following letter was
written by Rev. Wayne Belschner who is the pastor of the Sacred Heart Church
in East Boston. The Sacred Heart Church is the receiving parish for the Our
Lady of Mount Carmel parishioners. According to the
survivors, Rev. Belschner firmly opposes the vigil held at the OLMC.
A Note From Father Wayne
2-12-2006
I wish to take a moment to bring everybody up to date concerning the issue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and the group that has protested it’s closing. In June of last year, I met with members of the Archdiocese and the protestors. At that meeting, a proposal was presented in the hope that all at the Mount Carmel would have an opportunity to see the contents and decide whether or not to accept or reject it. To everybody’s amazement it was communicated to the Archdiocese rather quickly that the proposal was rejected.
Prior to offering the proposal, other people whose churches were closed were consulted and asked for their opinions on whether or not the Archdiocesan plan was fair. When they saw what was being offered they exclaimed: “if we had been given this proposal, we would have accepted it! It would mean that our church would be open!” Confident that those in the protest would feel the same, we presented to them the following:
• The Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel would be designated as a Chapel of Sacred Heart Parish. The name of Mount Carmel would remain and services would be allowed there at the discretion of the pastor of Sacred Heart. The pastor of Sacred Heart would be responsible for the upkeep and maintenance (both spiritual and physical) of Sacred Heart Church and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.
• Daily Mass would be celebrated at Sacred Heart Church in Italian every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:00 a.m.
• Daily Mass would be celebrated at the Mount Carmel Church in Italian every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:00 am.
• Daily Mass would be celebrated at Sacred Heart in English Monday-Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. and Thursday-Saturday at 8:00 a.m..
• Saturday Evening confession would be at Sacred Heart from 3:00-3:45 followed by Mass at 4:00 p.m.
• Saturday Evening confession would be at the Mount Carmel from 6:00-6:45 followed by Mass at 7:00
p.m. This hour was selected so as to allow weddings to take place either at Sacred Heart and the Mount Carmel at 5:00 p.m. If this Mass time was deemed too late, then discussion of changing the Mass time would take place with the possibility of Mass at the Mount Carmel at 5:00 p.m. and we would do our best to work around the wedding schedule.
• Sunday Masses would be celebrated at Sacred Heart at 8:30, 10:00, & 11:30 a.m. (Italian).
• Sunday Mass at the Mount Carmel either Sunday Morning at 7:30 or anytime after 1:00 p.m. Also, it was said at the meeting that in six (6) months the schedule would be reviewed; and, if necessary, changes would be made. The reason for the time in the afternoon was to honor already scheduled announced Masses at 11:30 at Sacred Heart. Also, until a more permanent schedule was worked upon the scheduling of Masses at 11:30 would be put on hold.
• Some of the protestors would be placed on the Parish Pastoral Council and Finance Council.
The proposal from the Archdiocese only called for one Sunday Mass. Yet, we were willing to offer two weekend Masses, daily Masses; as well as, funerals, baptisms, weddings, and other ceremonies at the Mount Carmel. We also further stated that all monies collected at the Mount Carmel would remain there for the upkeep and maintenance of the building. Also, if the convent and rectory were sold or rented, the Archdiocese was considering that the proceeds remain at the Mount Carmel for necessary repairs. The protestors rejected the proposal.
As pastor of this community, I strongly feel that the protest should end. For the good of the parish, I will do all that is within my power to bring about a swift solution to this issue that has divided this community for almost two years. A great deal has been said about the people who worship here and myself. As your pastor and brother, I ask you not to return insult with insult. Instead, let us pray that God will see us through this time of difficulty; and, that we together can heal the wounds of deception and hatred. May God bless us all!
An Open Letter to Our Friends
and Neighbors in East Boston
2-20-2006
Cari Amici, Dear Friends and Neighbors:
On Sunday, February 12 last, Reverend Wayne Belschner, Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in East Boston, published in his church bulletin a Note concerning the “issue” at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a National Ethnic Parish in East Boston, which was technically closed on October 12, 2004, and has been in prayerful vigil ever since, a long 16 months.
Rev. Belschner described a proposal brokered by the Archbishop’s Reconfiguration Review Committee last August, whereby Mt. Carmel might have reopened as a chapel, affiliated with Sacred Heart Parish. The Mt. Carmel parishioners reviewed this and had serious misgivings about the chapel formula, something which is currently keeping two other parishioner groups in the archdiocese from accepting this offer: basically, a chapel exists at the whim of the pastor and can be modified or closed down by him at will. Nonetheless, the Mt. Carmel parishioners decided to accept this proposal, with one absolutely-key provision:
That the Sunday Morning Italian language Mass at Mt. Carmel should be celebrated between 10 a.m. and 12 noon, to allow parishioners to hold their Sunday family traditions.
The Mt. Carmel parishioners were ready to take full financial responsibility for the staffing, operation, upkeep and capital improvements of their church, rectory (which could possibly be used by all East Boston parishes for children’s CCD Catholic education classes), vacant convent building, and parking lot, and to provide at their own expense the priests for all Masses and other liturgy. But to accomplish this, it was essential to the success of the chapel proposal that the parishioners required two weekend Masses at appropriate times. A Sunday Morning Italian language Mass and a Saturday Evening English language Mass at their customary time slots to draw attendance and to get the collections needed for financial self-sufficiency.
However, Mt. Carmel’s position was rejected by the archdiocese, and it is fair to conclude that the Rev. Belschner had a hand in this, because, as stated in his recent Note, an Italian Sunday Mass at the Mount Carmel could only be held either Sunday Morning at 7:30 a.m., or anytime after 1:00 p.m., and a Saturday Evening English Mass at the Mount Carmel could only be held at 7:00 p.m.
Let us be very clear about what has happened and who bears the responsibility:
The Sunday and Saturday Mass schedule offered by the archdiocese was an invitation to failure, something that COULD NOT be accepted by any parishioner group, most especially by an Italian ethnic parishioner group that is serious about rebuilding its faith community.
You have to wonder about Rev. Belschner’s and the Archdiocese of Boston’s motivation in this situation. Is it payback, for the courage which the Mt. Carmel parishioners have shown over the past 16 months of vigil, defying the archdiocese in spite of repeated harassment and disrespect?
There has been harassment by the archdiocese towards the Mt. Carmel parishioners in several instances, such as (a) not paying for the heating oil fuel bill to heat the church, something which the archdiocese does for other vigil parish groups; (b) trying to break up the parishioners’ fund-raiser last fall by calling the Boston Police and Boston Fire Marshals to shut it down; and (c) installing concrete Jersey barriers to block Mt. Carmel worshippers from using the church parking lot, forcing elderly parishioners to park wherever possible in the neighborhood and take a lengthy detour over snow or icy sidewalks.
These actions have never been practiced by the archdiocese at any of the other vigil parishes, why at Mt. Carmel?
There has been disrespect by the archdiocese towards the Mt. Carmel parishioners, in denying them a priest to celebrate even once a Christmas or an Easter Mass, while the archdiocese repeatedly extended this “concession” to other vigil parishioners in Framingham, in Wellesley and in Sudbury; the archdiocese could not even be moved to allow a priest for the 100th anniversary of Mt. Carmel, celebrated last year by the parishioners without any acknowledgement or courtesy from our spiritual leaders.
You really have to wonder why four other suburban parishioner vigil groups have been favored, while the Mt. Carmel group, the only ethnic one in vigil, has been ignored; in the words of an old Neapolitan proverb, “ ‘ca nisciuno e’ fesso!” [Here, nobody is dumb]
When all is said and done, the Catholic Church is a hierarchical institution, and Rev. Belschner is merely following the orders of his masters, Archbishop Sean O’Malley and Bishop Richard Lennon. Wherever the responsibility finally rests, there is nothing redeeming about the behavior of any of these individuals towards the faithful, believing Catholics of Mt. Carmel. Perhaps the worst aspect of all this is that the archdiocese has used the Holy Sacrament of the Mass as a bargaining chip, extending this sacrament to several favored vigil groups in the suburbs, while denying this sacrament to the Italian-Americans of East Boston who have been refused the use of what their immigrant countrymen labored to build in 1905, their own true church – this is nothing less than shameful.
These individuals should heed the words of the Bible, Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 34:
“Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves!
Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep? You have fed off their milk,
and slaughtered the fatlings, but the sheep you have not pastured.
You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick nor bind up the injured.
You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost, but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally.
So they were scattered for lack of a shepherd…”
The Our Lady of Mount Carmel Survivors
128 Gove Street
East Boston, MA 02128
Visit our web site at www.olmcsurvivors.com