Diocese of Belleville

Originally Posted at Talk to Action

This past January, my wife and I learned that The Diocese of Brooklyn-Queens plans to close St. Finbar, where my son attends Catholic elementary school, in June. Among the factors to its closing, the one that stands out to me is the Church's refusal to be accountable over the most basic matters of integrity and concern for the safety and well being of Catholic families. This, combined with distorted doctrinal and political priorities, are the underlying causes of a declining membership, and the hemorrhaging of Church funds.

St. Finbar's is a parish with Catholic school located in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. Throughout its history it has provided students from Pre-K through the eighth grade with a Catholic elementary school education. In recent years it had smaller class sizes (my son's second grade class has five other students besides him). But we didn't mind because it kept him on his toes while providing him with a lot of personal attention from the teacher.