A gross amount of distorted, inaccurate and downright fraudulent information is being distributed to the public. Let us separate fact from fiction:
Monsignor Joseph
Granato has been a priest at St. Lucy's Church for 54 years now. He kept a
poor parish alive and well (against all odds) through the failure of
urban renewal, the riots in the 60s and numerous other trials that, in
the hands of a lesser man, would have left our community to wither and
die. He is a good man...a kind man...a holy man...a humble man...an
honorable man...the likes of which are rarely seen in this day and age.
In the last 112 years, St. Lucy's has had only three pastors (the
latest of whom is Monsignor Granato), each of whom trained for the
position by assisting his predecessor. Archbishop John Myers has not
seen fit to use this tried and true method to train Monsignor's
replacement. Indeed, throughout all this, the Archbishop has refused to
even sit down with the man he is about to evict from the only church
Monsignor has ever belonged to, much less tap into his years of
wisdom and experience.
St. Lucy's is a successful, well-integrated, self-supporting city
parish, yet another way in which it departs from the norm. At a time
when Catholics are leaving the church in large numbers, the
parishioners of St. Lucy's remain fiercely loyal to the parish that is
our spiritual home, traveling from far and wide to attend the 53 masses
scheduled each week, in English, Italian, Latin and Spanish, sitting in
the very same pew our grandparents and great-grandparents sat in
decades ago.
All we have ever asked is that Monsignor's replacement be someone who understands and respects the longtime traditions of our parish, the
very reasons why we all choose to be at St. Lucy's and why St. Lucy's
is a thriving community today. In recent weeks, however, we have even
stopped focusing on that. Our primary goal now is to keep Archbishop Myers from going back on his word. He told Monsignor that if
he retired, Monsignor would be allowed to live out his days as did his
predecessors, in the rectory that has been his home for more than half
a century. Monsignor took him at his word. Now the Archbishop intends
to renege on his promise and summarily evict our quiet and unassuming
pastor, without cause or justification.
Although the archdiocese prefers to put its own spin on all this, what
it boils down to is very simple...What is the RIGHT thing to do? What
is the CATHOLIC thing to do? What would JESUS do? Stand by His word or
'reward' 54 YEARS OF GOD'S WORK with a shove out the door.
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