As we’ve told you, unfortunately—but not surprisingly—Bishop Zubik has denied our February 22 request (“remonstratio”) that he revoke or suspend his decision to close St. Philip School. We’re writing to update you on what we know and what’s coming next in the effort to save St. Philip School—and our Parish.
As Expected, Bishop Zubik Denies Our Appeal
We have filed both a remonstratio (February 22) and a petition (March 3) against the Bishop’s decision.
In a letter yesterday signed by Vicar of Canonical Services, Fr. Thomas Kunz, we were informed that the Bishop had denied our remonstratio.
Other than claimed but unspecified “grave difficulties facing” our School and St. Margaret School, Fr. Kunz’s letter gives no reasons for the decision.
No decree accompanies the letter, nor does it inform us of our rights to appeal the Bishop’s decision, both contrary to canon law.
Fr. Kunz makes several “fact” claims about the School, the Parish, and the Bishop’s decision, but these are legal issues at the center of our appeal—and Fr. Kunz’s claims are in error.
The Next Appeal Step—Onto the Vatican
We have 15 days from yesterday to appeal the Bishop’s denial of our remonstratio to the Vatican, which we plan to do very soon. We have been working on our appeal for more than 3 weeks.
We have amassed substantial evidence in support of our appeal that will be sent to the Vatican along with our legal argument.
Our canon lawyer has advised us that we have very strong legal grounds for our appeal, grounds already finding success at the Vatican in similar cases.
Our March 3 petition remains pending before the Bishop and we will renew our request that he grant it and revoke or suspend his closure decision.
What Happened to Our Requests For Meetings and Our Questions to Father Torquato?
Three times, we or our canonical counsel have asked Bishop Zubik to meet with us, with legal counsel present. He has not agreed to these requests.
Two weeks ago, we asked Fr. Torquato to meet with us—he has not responded either.
More than a week ago, we sent an open letter to Fr. Torquato raising serious questions about the administration of our Parish and the process resulting in the closure of our School.
Father Torquato has not answered our questions, and neither he nor the Bishop have even acknowledged our asking them. We know why: because the true and correct answers will expose the flawed and deceitful process that closed our school
What We Know and Food for Thought
We know that:
The Bishop has blamed payments to sex-abuse victims for the supposed financial shortfalls that necessitate closing Diocesan elementary schools.
Catholic Diocese Of Pittsburgh’s Fiscal Crisis Puts Squeeze On Catholic Schools
For decades, clergy sexually abused innocent children in our Diocese. Now, children pay the price again through the loss of their schools because of it.
The Diocese can find tens of millions of dollars to pay priest sex-abuse victims, but can’t find a fraction of that to keep our Catholic elementary schools open.
The Diocese has closed scores of elementary schools located overwhelmingly in working-class neighborhoods and which often were the only viable educational option for the underserved.
The schools that remain open and unaffected by the Diocese’s wrecking ball are located in Aspinwall, Cranberry, Point Breeze, Sewickley, Shadyside, and Upper St. Clair. Notice the pattern.
St. Philip and St. Margaret’s pastors and principals came to an agreement that would keep St. Philip School open as a K-8 school, but the SRCES Board soon torpedoed that by ginning up new financial projections purporting to show St. Philip School in poor financial condition.
St. Philip School has a much higher enrollment than St. Margaret School and is in a superior financial position when it comes to debt and the condition of our school building.
SRCES Board President Fr. Poecking, who presided over the decision to close our school, is pastor of nearby competitor school Archangel Gabriel.
Fr. Poecking has the most to gain from closing St. Philip School because his own school has seen a decline in enrollment of approximately 100 students since merging with St. Malachy a few years ago.
Before the ink on the Bishop’s closure announcement was dry, Fr. Poecking was brazenly recruiting our St. Philip families to send their children to his K-8 school and new preschool.
Extensive work has been done in and on the St. Philip rectory since Fr. Torquato’s arrival in July, yet he has denied it in writing to a parent of current St. Philip students. Parishioners have no idea how much of their money Fr. Torquato has spent on the rectory.
St. Philip Parish received over $300,000 in federal pandemic relief funds during the 2019-20 fiscal year, but that was omitted from the 2019-20 financial report published in a December 2020 bulletin.
The amount or existence of federal pandemic relief funds has never been publicized to parishioners or school families, and Fr. Torquato has denied in writing being aware of the pandemic relief received.
The Diocese claims it removed St. Philip School from our parish and placed it in a new non-profit entity, but it did so without presenting this decision first to the parish and consulting meaningfully with St. Philip parishioners.
We know that all of this was done in the shadow of the pandemic, which the Diocese exploited in full measure
We are ALL in this together!!
Committee to Save SPS