St. Adalbert removed from use as a church - Farrell, PA - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

This news article is from the website of the Sharon Herald, a local newspaper in western Pennsylvania. It was reported on September 18, 2020 and was updated on October 26, 2021. The article is titled, "St. Adalbert removed from use as a church," and discusses the closing of a church in the town of Farrell, Pennsylvania, which had been founded in 1912. The full text of the article reads:

FARRELL – St. Adalbert Church in Farrell will cease being a Catholic church.

The change was announced last week by the Rev. Matthew Ruyechan, pastor of the partnered parishes of St. Anthony of Padua in Sharon and Our Lady of Fatima in Farrell. St. Adalbert, at 1035 Fruit Ave., is a secondary church of St. Anthony Parish.

The Most Rev. Lawrence T. Persico, bishop of Erie, after consultation with the presbyteral council, has relegated St. Adalbert to “profane but not sordid use,” effective Sunday.

The technical designation refers to the canon law process by which a bishop removes the blessing or consecration of a church building. The building then ceases to be reserved for divine worship, and therefore, can be used for non-religious purposes. The term “profane” means secular or non-religious, while “sordid” means unbecoming or inappropriate.

A press release from the diocese said the designation is the result of a process that occurs when a pastor, with the support of the parish finance council and the parish pastoral council, believes a church building can no longer be maintained for any of a variety of reasons and petitions the bishop to relegate the church.

St. Adalbert Parish was established in 1912 as a personal parish for Catholics of Polish heritage in Farrell. While the parish grew quickly, by 1930 the Polish Catholic population of Farrell was migrating to Sharon. St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish was thus established in Sharon in 1931 to meet their needs, according to the diocese press release.

The last full-time pastor of St. Adalbert left in 1989. Since then, the parish was either under the care of an administrator or shared a pastor with other parishes until it was merged into St. Anthony of Padua Parish in February 2017.

According to a 1963 golden jubilee history, St. Adalbert Parish dedicated its first church on Christmas Day 1913. That building was destroyed by fire in 1931 and replaced a year later by the current church building.

The announcement gave no indication what will become of the building.

Type of publication: Newspaper When was the article reported?: 09/18/2020 Publication: Sharon Herald Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: local News Category: Society/People

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