Archdiocese

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia will close two more elementary schools at the end of this school year, according to an announcement in the most recent issue of Catholic Standard & Times. Holy Angels Elementary School, at 70th Avenue and Old York Road in Oak Lane, and Sacred Heart Elementary School, on East Berkley Street in Clifton Heights, Delaware County, will be closed, said the official newspaper of the archdiocese. A third elementary school, St. Aloysius, in the 1600 block of South 26th Street in South Philadelphia, also is a likely candidate for closing, according to the announcement in Thursday's paper.

A tentative agreement was reached Sunday that could end the two-week strike by lay teachers at high schools operated by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Shortly after 6 p.m. the archdiocese and the Association of Catholic Teachers, Local 1776, released a joint statement announcing the settlement. Neither side would reveal details of the proposed agreement until it is presented to the 711 union members for a vote at 10 a.m. Monday at Penn's Landing Caterers. "Both parties have agreed not to comment until after a general membership meeting of the union where teachers will vote on acceptance of the terms of the tentative agreement," the statement said.

Cardinal-elect John P. Foley and five other Catholic school alumni will be inducted into the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in January, officials announced yesterday. Auxiliary Bishop Joseph P. McFadden said the six were chosen for the archdiocese's annual distinguished graduate awards and would be honored Jan. 28 at the Crystal Tea Room. Archbishop Foley, a Darby native, attended Holy Spirit Elementary School in Sharon Hill before graduating from St. Joseph's Preparatory School in North Philadelphia and earning degrees from several universities.

Lawyers say they will file a new lawsuit Monday accusing Archdiocese of Philadelphia, its leaders and employees of conspiracy and fraud for failing to help a former young sacristan who claimed he was abused by a priest. The claim would be the second of its kind since a Philadelphia grand jury last month charged four priests with molesting boys or concealing the attacks, and said the archdiocese attempts to reform had fallen short. "This is yet another case in which the victim's assistance program didn't really do what it was supposed to do," said Marci Hamilton, one of the lawyers for the plaintiff.

Despite shrinking enrollment in the city and inner-ring suburbs, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is taking an initial step toward building the first new Catholic high schools in years. The archdiocese is scheduled to announce today that it will survey 10,000 suburban families to find out if they favor building new Catholic high schools in two fast-growing areas of Montgomery and Bucks Counties, officials said. The five-county archdiocese has not built a new high school since 1998.

Teacher contract talks in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia have reached a "critical juncture," with "significant progress" made Friday at a negotiation session that lasted more than 13 hours, archdiocese spokeswoman Cathy Rossi said yesterday. Teachers and the archdiocese have agreed to a news blackout as work continues, she said. "Each side does have plans to work over the holiday weekend, but I'm not confirming if and when they will meet," Rossi said, declining to comment further.

Worshipers who still attend Mass at St. Peter Claver are considering hiring a lawyer to fight a plan by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to turn the historic black Catholic church into a center for the evangelization of African-Americans. The worshipers say the plan, announced Sunday during Mass at the 105-year- old church at 12th and Lombard streets, would complete the dismantling of St. Peter Claver that began in 1985. At that time, Cardinal John Krol "suppressed" the church, eliminating it as a parish and turning it into the Shrine of Our Lady of Victory.

Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua announced yesterday that fiber-optic cable is being installed to link Roman Catholic schools and offices throughout the five-county Archdiocese of Philadelphia. "Today, we take another step on the road to success by merging our schools onto the world's information superhighway," Cardinal Bevilacqua said. The telecommunication network, which will take three years to complete, will go first to the 22 diocesan high schools, with a combined enrollment of 23,100 students.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia will close a vocational training school for delinquent boys in June unless the City of Philadelphia increases its funding for the program, according to archdiocesan officials. Auxiliary Bishop Martin N. Lohmuller, vice president of the board of Catholic Charities, has told Mayor Goode that De La Salle Vocational Day Treatment Center in Bucks County will close unless the city agrees to a 9 percent increase in the amount paid for each boy from Philadelphia in the program, according to the Catholic Standard and Times.