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Read much more at the excellent Our Lady of Vilnius Blog
URGENT UPDATE/ACTION ALERT: STILL STANDING
JULY 5, 2008:
Despite relentless efforts by opponents, including attempts at gaining authorization to demolish the historic Church of Our Lady of Vilnius, 570 Broome Street in New York City, this beautiful structure, a testament to the faith and dedication of turn-of-the-century Lithuanian-Americans, is still standing.
And so are we, still standing in witness of and resistance to the unconscionable locking out of the parishioners on February 26th, 2007.
We stand this and every Sunday on the sidewalk across from St. Patrick's Cathedral, 5th Avenue in Manhattan (10:30-11:30 a.m.)
We stand this and every Sunday in front of the Church of Our Lady of Vilnius (12:30-1:30 p.m.) It's a time of fellowship, community, and sharing of news and information.
Despite the amount of time that has passed since the lockout, there are more reasons than ever to believe that a reversal of the decision to arbitrarily close this church is, indeed, possible. Please share this information with your friends and relatives.
The church is still standing. We are still standing. And we are waiting for you to join us.
Please take a moment to sign our online petition.
Here is a poignant reminder of why we fight (click on the image below to watch the video.)
And please visit the NEWS ARCHIVE page for many more video and text testimonials gathered during our ongoing 16 months of faithful dissent to this hamfisted action by the Archbishop of New York. There's also an archive of our video reports on Youtube.
WHEN THEY SAY IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY...
JUNE 22, 2008:
During the entire sordid drama of the forced closing of an active, self-supporting, diverse parish community, the Archdiocese of New York insisted (when it's spokesMEN deigned to comment at all) that the imperative to desecrate the faith legacy of a dedicated ethnic minority by locking the doors of the Church of Our Lady of Vilnius was strategic and in keeping with an overall vision for the Archdiocese. Communication, when it happened, was couched in the authoritarian language of hierarchical omniscience. Any implication that the dirty decisions could be reversed were greeted with derision and condescension. And, to be honest, even within the Lithuanian-American community there has been much discussion about the wisdom of questioning a Church decision.
But with the news of St. Brigid's church, condemned since 2001, being saved by what can only be called "privatization" (a secret "angel" has come up with a $20 million gift)... The more cynical among us have the bittersweet satisfaction of having their worst suspicions confirmed. It seems it really IS about the money after all.
Click here to read the New York Times story.
Click here to read the New York Post story.
Click here to read the New York Daily News story.
Click here to watch the NY1 television story.
What "offering" will it take for Our Lady of Vilnius Church to suddenly have value to the Archdiocese of New York again?
Please visit the NEWS ARCHIVE page for much more.