December 13, 2022
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The Holy Trinity Church building at the corner of Sixth and Spruce streets in Philadelphia is one of four Catholic churches in the region that have been approved for relegation by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Four Catholic churches in the Philadelphia area, including two in the city, will close their doors in the new year as part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's latest plan to relegate buildings and merge parishes.
The churches – Holy Trinity Church in Society Hill, The Saint Peter Claver Church building in South Philly, Sacred Heart Church in Phoenixville, Chester County and the original Saint Philip Neri Church in East Greenville, Montgomery County – are slated to close by Jan. 23.
Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez has approved the relegation of all four buildings to profane but not sordid use, a formal designation that means the buildings will no longer be Roman Catholic churches. The future of each building will be determined by its respective parish.
The Holy Trinity Church building was the third Roman Catholic Church built in Philadelphia and the first national parish in the country. In July 2009, Holy Trinity Parish merged with Old Saint Mary Parish. At the time, the Holy Trinity church building became a worship site of the newly formed Old Saint Mary Parish and was used for an occasional celebration of Mass.
The building's exterior is historically designated and cannot be altered without the approval of the Philadelphia Historical Commission.
Saint Peter Claver Church, long considered the mother church for Black Catholics in Philadelphia, has not been a parish church since 1985 and has not been an active worship site since 2014. After Saint Peter Claver Parish closed in 1985, the building became the Saint Peter Claver Center for Evangelization. At the time of the church's closure, Mass was being offered on a monthly basis and was attended by fewer than 15 people, the archdiocese said.
The building has been historically designated since April 1984, protecting its exterior from alterations without approval from the historical commission. The cost of repairs to the church and rectory buildings would exceed $1.3 million, the archdiocese said.
It is expected that the sale of the Saint Peter Claver Church properties would generate funds to support ongoing ministry to Black Catholics through the Office of Black Catholics, the archdiocese said. Many of the sacred items inside the church already have been moved to active parishes that currently serve Black Catholics.
The Sacred Heart Church building in Phoenixville has not served as a worship site since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Sacred Heart Parish merged with Saint Ann Parish in 2012, placing the future of the building in the hands of Saint Ann Parish, which took on all real estate holdings, assets and debts of the former Sacred Heart Parish at the time of the merger.
The original Saint Philip Neri Church in East Greenville has not been used as a worship site since 1968, when the new parish church was built in nearby Pennsburg. In the years after the new church was opened, the original building was converted into a hall and cafeteria for the parish school, which closed in 2012. The original parish campus includes the former parish rectory, former parish convent and former parish school building. None of them are in use today.
The Saint Philip Neri Parish reassured parishioners that the closure of the original buildings will not affect the Pennsburg church.
"This simply means that the building may be used for other purposes and no longer as a church," Father Anthony Hangholt wrote in a message on the parish's website. "Our campus in Pennsburg will see no changes. Our parish is NOT closing. Please be assured that our parish is alive and well."
The church closures are part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's Pastoral Planning Initiative, which began in 2010 with the goal of promoting parish growth and sustainability across respective geographic areas. The initiative has resulted in a number of parish mergers and church closures over the last 12 years.
