St. Benedict's Mission was started as an outreach to African-American Catholics in Toledo in 1932. Rev. Austin Bork, S.J., was in charge of the parish, first located at 566 Avondale Avenue.According to the 1932 Diocesan Yearbook: "During the week of May 22d sixty converts, adults and children, were baptized and on May 29th received their First Holy Communion in St. Francis de Sales Cathedral from the hands of Bishop Alter."
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4 comments:
We need that sort of outreach nowadays, instead of abandoning inner city neighborhoods to concentrate resources on patting suburban yuppies on the hand and telling them how important they are.
Dead on, Jeffrey. And perhaps if your advice were followed, many of our problems (such as the priest shortage) would disappear over night. It is our failure to follow our Lord's commands that leads to our failure.
Amen!
Have to add that my parish boundaries are drawn so that the inhabitants are almost 100% white (I come from outside the parish for the signed mass). Yet solidly black (inner city) areas are right across the street on the east, and mixed areas to the north and south.
Almost never do I see a minority face at mass. Yet the parish complains that they have lost 20% of their membership in the last 5 years, and wring their hands over how to support the physical plant. Indeed, they get a supplement from the bishop every year. This is what happens when the focus is on the physical plant and not on outreach.
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