Parish Schools

Two Catholic elementary schools in South Philadelphia slated for closure by the archdiocese have appealed to an even higher authority - the Vatican. The schools, Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, are scheduled to shutter in June and to merge into another South Philadelphia school this fall, but parents and a canon-law consultant are proposing that they merge at the Mount Carmel site instead. Parents at both schools - frustrated and angry about the closings, which they say will have adverse effects in their neighborhoods - hired Boston lawyer Peter Borre after Archbishop Charles J. Chaput denied their appeal.

After more than 100 years of existence, Holy Spirit Parish Elementary School in Sharon Hill will close next month because of declining enrollment. The Rev. Martin E. Woodeshick, the pastor who informed parishioners Sunday during Mass, said Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua had accepted the recommendation of the school's study committee to close the kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school at the end of the academic year. The last day of classes will be June 6. And the final eighth-grade graduation for the school, which opened in 1901, will be June 11. Six parish schools in a three-mile radius have agreed to accept Holy Spirit students.

Eighth graders enrolled in area Catholic elementary schools scored well above national averages on standardized tests administered last fall, and their scores have increased by nearly 9 percentile points since they took a similar test in the sixth grade. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia was scheduled to release the results of the California Achievement Test today showing that, overall, eighth graders scored at the 73.8 percentile on the reading, language and math portions of the exam.

Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua plans to meet with business leaders at his home tonight to get some tips on how to save Philadelphia archdiocesan high schools. The meeting comes one day after students, teachers, parents and alumni pleaded for their schools at the last of six public hearings on the proposed closing or mergers. The cardinal plans to announce the disposition of the 10 affected schools next month, following a Nov. 24 meeting with church leaders. Jay Devine, Bevilacqua's spokesman, said eight or 10 business leaders were scheduled to meet with Bevilacqua at his residence for dinner.

Msgr. John Robert Lubicky, 81, a parish priest who had been a tribunal judge for the Diocese of Camden for more than 45 years, died Wednesday of complications from strokes at St. Mary's Catholic Home in Cherry Hill. Msgr. Lubicky was pastor of St. John Vianney Church in Deptford from 1975 until he retired in 1993. A recipient of a law degree from Catholic Univesity in Washington, he continued his duties as a judge for the diocesan tribunal, which handles marriage annulments and canon-law issues, until becoming ill two years ago. Msgr.

Sister Regina Therese Unsinn, 80, a musicologist, former professor and chairwoman of music at Immaculata College and the founder of the school's Delta Psi chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda, a national music honor society, died Thursday at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa. She lived at the Camilla Hall retirement home on the grounds of Immaculata College in East Whiteland Township, Chester County. Sister Regina Therese was a respected and beloved educator, according to people who worked with her at the college.

Once they were the glory of a growing church, imposing buildings filled with row after row of girls in uniforms and boys in dress shirts and ties, learning the Baltimore Catechism along with reading and arithmetic. But in the last two decades, as people have moved deeper into the suburbs, many parishes, especially in the inner city, have seen their school enrollments shrink, turning buildings that once were symbols of strength into financial liabilities. "There are too many churches, too many schools," Msgr.

TWO CATHOLIC elementary schools in South Philadelphia slated for closure by the Archdiocese have appealed to an even higher authority - the Vatican. The schools, Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, are scheduled to shutter in June and merge with another South Philadelphia school this fall, but parents and one Boston-based Canon Law consultant are proposing that they merge at the Mount Carmel site instead. Parents at both schools, frustrated and angry about the closings, which they say will have adverse effects in their Pennsport and Whitman neighborhoods, hired Boston-based lawyer Peter Borre after Archbishop Charles Chaput denied their appeal.

There's no denying the pain of the sweeping consolidation of Catholic schools recommended by a blue-ribbon commission. It was plainly visible on the tearful faces of schoolgirls leaving St. Hubert's Catholic High in Torresdale on Friday, and at so many other parish schools across the Philadelphia region. But it was inevitable, as new Archbishop Charles J. Chaput quickly acknowledged upon his arrival in September. In a pre-Christmas message, he wisely made that abundantly clear to his flock.

A new regional Catholic elementary school that had been proposed for Manayunk will not open in September due to low enrollment, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced Monday. St. Blaise Regional School was going to be created through the merger of St. Bridget parish school in East Falls and Holy Child Regional School in Manayunk, and based at Holy Child. But only 155 students had registered as of Friday, and the archdiocese said the school needed to have at least 250 students to cover teacher salaries and provide a quality education.