St. James was the first Catholic parish in Boone and Winnebago counties. I applaud the Casey Brothers in coming forth and speaking of their concerns. I share many of their sentiments.
Editor,
We would like to bring to your attention a significant
event, about to happen in Boone County. There is a
movement within the St James Catholic community to
destroy the historic St James Catholic church in Belvidere.
This Gothic designed building, built in 1886, has stood
steadfast for so many generations as an iconic symbol of
our Catholic faith. It is now targeted for demolition to make
way for a larger building.
As Boone County has grown so has the Catholic
congregation at St James. This has necessitated the expansion
of the Mass schedule. Most masses are not full, but during
special church events an over crowded condition has
occurred. A few argue that the congregation must respond
with an expansion project to accommodate these needs. So,
Father Geary, the Pastor at St James, and an elite team of
core members started a process to convince the parish to
give their treasure and talent toward this end. Unfortunately,
they failed to adequately involve the congregation and
seek out a broad scope of inputs to achieve a go forward
consensus. Consequently there is much disappointment and
frustration!
An exploratory funding survey was conducted. While
the results were never published to the congregation, the
message from the pulpit was touted as most positive.
Independent research indicated the response was probably
mixed at best. Increased pressure was also sought out and
obtained from the Diocese of Rockford, Bishop Doran.
An architect was hired and a design was defined, mostly
in a vacuum. Little or no input on other alternatives was
discussed with the congregation as a whole. One idea,
quickly shot down, was to build on to the existing structure
with a complimentary design and refurbish the interior
of church. The new Romanesque design, drawn out by
the architect and accepted by Father Geary, is a drastic
departure from the familiar design of St James. As a result
the chosen design will not incorporate the artisan crafted
stained glass windows that were donated in the late 1800’s
in memory of the early families, the stations of the cross, or
many other features, beloved by our parishioners. There was
no attempt to seek a congregational vote on this emotional
and financial decision to abandon the existing structure and
discard our past heritage. In reality any who courageously
offered a dissenting voice or objection were ignored and
quickly dismissed. Father Geary and the elite team dictated
the direction to us.
The new proposed structure is nearly twice the size of
the existing church and is targeted to be built adjacent to
St James School. The intent here is to consolidate the mass
schedule by accommodating up to 1,000 parishioners at a
given mass. The old historic church will be demolished for
a parking lot, what a shame! The local streets are already
overloaded at certain masses and this larger structure will
only exacerbate the parking situation. The tripling of parked
cars will necessitate the purchase and destruction of many
homes in the area as well.
We are disappointed in the lack of transparency
involving this decision!
Letters were sent to the Bishop with no response. It is
doubtful that these letters were given any consideration.
Robert A Casey and Daniel J Casey
The above was published in the April 22, 2011, Boone County Journal, page 2, which is available free of costs at merchants across Boone County and available on the internet at: http://boonecountyjournal.com/news/2011/Boone-County-News-04-22-11.pdf#page=2
