FORT GREENE – The familiar red brick church, located at the intersection of Willoughby Avenue and Kent Street, has had three name changes in its nearly 180-year history. In 1974 he received the last: St. Lucy-St. Patrick. Since then, Luis Delgado has been an active lay volunteer at St. Lucy-St. Patrick, located at 285 Willoughby Avenue, working behind the scenes and on the front as a greeter and supervisor of collections.
These days, Delgado, 95, is the maintainer of the Fort Greene church, which has been closed since its last Mass in late fall 2021 due to structural issues and demographic change.
Earlier this month, he took a brief tour of the church where he and his late wife, Isabel, immersed themselves in parish life with their two children. She died 19 years ago. His children are now retired and in their 60s. He showed where some of the outside bricks had fallen. The holes were patched, but inspections revealed that more extensive repairs are needed. The estimated costs were in the millions, according to Father Henry Torres, parish priest of the Maria de Nazaret parish and administrator of Santa Lucía-San Patricio. The diocese then decided to close the church.
Bishop Robert Brennan announced June 1 that the church “will no longer be used for divine worship.” This official decree became effective 30 days later, on July 1. Following Canon Law, the decree was published on the diocese’s website. It also orders that “all sacred furnishings and works of art” be removed from the building.
When the difficult decision is made to close a church, a detailed process is initiated to ensure that the objects – such as the tabernacle, stained glass windows and statues, to name a few – are removed and properly preserved.
The Mary of Nazareth Parish can keep the objects, but if it refuses to take some pieces, the decree states that they must be treated in a manner “consistent with their character and with the known intentions of any donor.” Typically, these items are stored by the diocese’s Estate Office in Bushwick, Brooklyn, where everything is photographed, documented, and appraised. Items may later be made available to other parishes.
Canon law states that former churches may be sold for secular purposes, but not for any activity deemed immoral by the Church. However, the diocese has not announced the future use of the church.
According to the parish website, the original parish was formed in 1843. The church was then called St. Mary’s, but 13 years later it was renamed St. Patrick’s. Santa Lucia Church was established in 1904 to serve the Italian residents of the area. In 1974, St. Lucy’s Church, located a few blocks north on Kent Avenue, was absorbed into St. Patrick’s, and the church was renamed St. Lucy-St. Patrick’s.
Many of the old Italian families moved to other neighborhoods. In its place a growing community of Orthodox Jews has sprung up, Father Torres said. Meanwhile, members of St. Lucy-St. Patrick decreased. According to its website, Mary of Nazareth Parish, which included Sacred Heart and St. Michael-St. Edward, grew in 2011 with the addition of St. Lucia-St. Patrick. On June 30, Father Torres said that he was investigating the possibility of a special service to honor St. Lucia-St. Patrick.
One of his first thoughts was to have a procession in which the Eucharist would be taken out of St. Lucia-St. Patrick and brought to Mary of Nazareth Parish. “I want to do something big,” Father Torres said. “I want something very nice to close it.” Delgado, for his part, will be aware of everything. “I live across the street,” he said, “so every time I [el padre Torres] You need me, you know I’ll be around. Even now that it’s closing, I’m still hanging around, picking up the trash and watering the plants. We have a beautiful garden here. “I love doing it because I am so proud of my parish. Sometimes I cry because I’m really sorry, you know? He often stops by to make sure everything is in order. But sometimes Delgado stays inside the church to pray and reflect alone. During a visit on July 1, he sat on a bench in the front row. His eyes were fixed on the altar and the sanctuary.
“I just sit here and look at my Lord,” he told a visitor. “A lot of people don’t like to sit here alone because we’ve had a lot of funerals here. But for me it is peaceful. I knew the deceased. Most were friends, a lot of people we knew.” He pointed to a display of funeral cards from numerous services held at the church. “Even my wife’s name is in there somewhere,” he said. Delgado remembers when St. Lucy-St. Patrick was a thriving parish, with holiday processions through the neighborhood, entertainment for all ages, and robust weekly collections. Although the church holds many memories for Delgado, he recognized and accepted the reason for its closure. “There’s nothing we can really do about it,” she said. “The church needs a lot of repairs.”
–
