Merger
with St. Francis de Sales
Most Blessed Sacrament Parish closes its doors
By Christie L. Chicoine
CS&T Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — The parishes of Most Blessed Sacrament (MBS), founded
in 1901, and St. Francis De Sales, founded in 1890, have merged at the
St. Francis de Sales site, 47th Street and Springfield Avenue. The distance
between the two Southwest Philadelphia churches is nine blocks.
Although canonically MBS ceases to exist as a parish on July 1, a Mass
of leave-taking was celebrated there on Nov. 18 because the deterioration
of the church made it no longer suitable for worship.
“It was a sadness that came over me, but I’m a Catholic and
I want to worship in my community,” said 79-year-old James Butler,
who had been a parishioner at MBS for 35 years.
For his wife, Marie, and him, the distance to St. Francis is the same
as it was to MBS. “The merger went well. … It’s just
a [matter] of getting acclimated,”added Butler, a member of MBS’
parish pastoral council. “I have no qualms. I’ve been blessed.”
Nine years ago, MBS and St. Francis de Sales were twinned — meaning
one priest was assigned to serve both parishes, while each parish retained
its own parochial and canonical identity.
Declining Catholic populations and parish resources prompted the parishes
to seek opportunities to share parish activities, services and liturgies
during the past eight years. In 2004, the business and administrative
functions were consolidated at the St. Francis site.
Father Zachary W. Navit, pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish since 2004,
is the pastor of the merged parish, which retains the name St. Francis
de Sales. The new boundaries encompass both parishes.
This past September, the pastor and joint parish pastoral councils submitted
to Cardinal Justin Rigali a proposed parish pastoral plan outlining a
recommendation to merge the two parishes, which he subsequently accepted.
At the time of its closure, MBS had 150 registered families, or 400 registered
parishioners, of which approximately 80 individuals had regularly worshiped
there, according to Father Navit. At the same time, St. Francis de Sales
had 700 registered families or 2,500 registered individuals.
Although the circumstances that led to the merger were difficult, “what
came through was the commitment and desire of the people for the Catholic
Church to be both present and viable in this community,” Father
Navit said.
The marble altar from the closed MBS church was transferred to the main
church of St. Francis de Sales. The MBS church building will remain empty
until another use is found for it, or it is sold. Religious articles and
furnishings from MBS not used in the merged parish will, through the assistance
of the archdiocesan Office for Closures, be made available for use in
other Catholic churches.
St. Francis de Sales retains the rectory at MBS, which houses the St.
Martin de Porres Chapel — where Mass is celebrated at 9 a.m. on
Thursdays. The rectory also houses an outreach center and additional parish
meeting rooms.
The lease of the former MBS school buildings to a charter school continues,
as does the lease of the former convent to Thomas Jefferson University
for a home for chemically-dependent mothers and their children.
St. Francis de Sales School continues to operate under the same name at
the same location, 917 S. 47th St. At the time of its closure MBS did
not have a parish school — it closed its doors in 2002. During its
prime in the mid-1960s, MBS School had 3,800 students on its roster —
and, at that time, claimed to be the largest Catholic elementary school
in the world.
For more information, call St. Francis de Sales Parish at (215) 222-5819
or visit the Web site www.saintfrancisdesales.net.
CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine can be reached at (215)
587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org.