Saint Mary of the Assumption (Philadelphia) will no longer serve as a worship site of Saint John the Baptist Parish (Philadelphia) and will close as a Roman Catholic Church

Contextual Background

Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish Merges with Saint John the Baptist Parish (2012)

In July 2012, Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish and Saint Josaphat Parish merged with Saint John the Baptist Parish, all located in Philadelphia’s Manayunk neighborhood, as part of the Parish Area Pastoral Planning Initiative that has been ongoing in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Each parish merged at the location and retained the name of Saint John the Baptist Parish.

In particular, at that time of the merger, the Saint Mary of the Assumption Church building became a worship site of the newly formed Saint John the Baptist Parish and was available for the occasional celebration of Mass as well as funerals and weddings as is customary whenever possible in the case of a parish merger.

Today’s Announcement

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced today that Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. relegated the Saint Mary of the Assumption Church building to profane but not sordid use effective November 1, 2015. This formal, canonical designation means that the church will no longer serve as worship site and will close as a Roman Catholic church.

This information was shared with Saint John the Baptist parishioners at Masses during the course of this weekend. A copy of the official canonical decree regarding this matter can be found at https://archphila.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/St-Mary-of-the-Assumption-Decree.pdf.

Further Information Regarding Today’s Announcement

The formal request to close this worship site originated from the pastor of the parish after consultation with the parish pastoral and finance councils. The request was then reviewed by the Archdiocesan Council of Priests and presented to Archbishop Chaput, who, after a careful review of all supporting factors, made the final decision. 

Saint Mary of the Assumption

Saint John the Baptist Parish has endeavored to keep Saint Mary of the Assumption Church and its related buildings and properties in good repair since the merger in July 2012.  

However, there are prohibitive past and ongoing financial challenges that confront the parish.  At the time of the merger in 2012 an outstanding $562,081 operational debt at Saint Mary of the Assumption was transferred to the newly merged community. This combined with a similar debt of $504,668 associated with the parish of Saint John the Baptist has created a combined debt of $1,066,749.  Also, because the church building at Saint Mary of the Assumption cannot be reasonably separated from other parish buildings and properties there is an estimated maintenance cost of $218,000 which will be required to make necessary major repairs for the buildings and property continued use.  Along with these anticipated repairs, there is also an ongoing annual maintenance cost of $138,000 for the church property.  All this is combined with the fact that Saint John the Baptist ended the last fiscal year with an ordinary income loss of $142,714.   

In addition to these financial reasons, there are pastoral reasons that are equally significant, such as, the infrequent use of the Saint Mary of the Assumption worship site, the sacraments and all other forms of divine worship are available to the faithful at the main parish church of Saint John the Baptist, and especially the desire to promote parish unity by concentrating worship and pastoral activity in the main parish church. For these reasons and the overall pastoral and financial good of the parish, the petition for the relegation of Saint Mary of the Assumption Church was tendered.

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