Holy Cross officials say merger not feasible, vow to appeal

In September, the mood at Holy Cross Parish School in Mount Airy was upbeat: The school was celebrating its 100th anniversary, and a pictorial tribute on the school website ended with the words: "Looking forward to our next 100 years!"

But unless the school principal and parish priest can change the minds of officials in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Holy Cross will not be around for even one more year.

The 145-student, K-8 school is among 45 elementary schools in the archdiocese selected for closure. It will be merged with Our Mother of Consolation school in Chestnut Hill.

Principal Bryan Werner and the Rev. James M. Cox said Saturday that they would appeal to Archbishop Charles J. Chaput to reconsider. Chaput has said he would consider appeals if they were based on factual errors.

Werner and Cox said Our Mother of Consolation, which enrolls about 185 students, does not have the capacity for all of Holy Cross' children. The building capacity, they said, is 230.

"There could be 100 kids between the two schools who are unable to attend the new school," Werner estimated.

At the 5 o'clock Mass last night, Cox underscored the importance of the school, which serves a largely non-Catholic student body.

"I believe that our school has a very important purpose . . . and that is the evangelization of the students we serve," he told parishioners.

At Masses across the region, parishes were grappling with the aftermath of the announcement of the widespread closure plan.

In Levittown, Bucks County, the Rev. Michael C. DiIorio told parishioners at St. Michael the Archangel Church that he might appeal and asked for a show of hands from congregation members on whether they agreed. Nearly all the hands of the roughly 200 in attendance shot up.

"We are a family," he said, noting his concerns that children will have to travel 11 miles to the new location - Our Lady of Grace in Penndel - and that Lower Bucks County will no longer have a Catholic school. He offered to be available to speak with families at the church hall between 1:30 and 4 p.m. Sunday.

Parishioner Pasquale Sabatini Sr., 71, who had two sons go through the school, said: "It's a sad day for Catholics. First, it's the schools and then it will be the churches. You have to support the church, but it's not being done."