Prayers Answered — St. Camillus Church to Remain Open

By Katie McFadden

Prayers have been answered. “This is like our miracle. You can’t close St. CamillUs,” a jubilant parishioner, Barbara Buffolino, said after Father James Rodriguez announced near the end of Mass on Sunday, March 15, a welcomed message of “St. Camillus is to remain open.”

A crowded St. Camillus erupted into cheers and applause at the announcement, after just 10 months earlier on May 25, Fr. Rodriguez had announced “We have to close St. Camillus by the end of the year.” The announcement of the need to close and Sunday’s happier update came as a relayed decision from Diocese of Brooklyn’s Bishop Robert Brennan.

Among the reasons for the initial decision to close were mainly poor attendance and financial hardships. “The church averages 175 people at their Sunday Mass. Despite the generosity of the parishioners, the parish debt currently amounts to over $3 million, which can only be addressed by selling or leasing the expansive property,” the Diocese of Brooklyn said at the time.

As the decision sounded final, some started saying their goodbyes to the more than 115-year-old church that had created generations of memories. As Masses dwindled down to one 11:30 a.m. Sunday Mass, some churchgoers found other area churches to attend, and on September 7, St. Camillus school alumni and others packed the church and gym for a bittersweet reunion to say farewell before the church was set to close for good on December 28.

But many St. Camillus’ parishioners and the Rockaway community were not going to take that as a final answer. On October 28, Bishop Brennan came to Springman Hall for a town hall to hear out the congregants of the church and community members who utilize Springman Hall and the schoolyard for activities throughout the year. After hearing from parishioners who spoke about how important the church is, members and coaches of the Special Olympics, CYO Basketball and other basketball programs, and Councilwoman Joann Ariola, Brennan ended the meeting with a bit of hope for St. Camillus’ future, saying, “I haven’t made any final decision.”

And with that, a committee started to form with a mission to not only say how much St. Camillus means to people, but to show it, by packing the pews once again and bringing new life to the church left hanging by a thread. Among one of those committee members is Joe Featherston, founder of the St. Camillus Special Olympics program, which utilizes Springman Hall and the schoolyard for activities every Monday for the last 30 years.

“We organized a concerted effort to get more people to Mass and came up with a schedule so the different groups would attend,” Featherston said. “Jill Palisi got the ball rolling, having her CYO teams start going to Mass before their games on Sunday. She was the first to get young people and their families back to church, and Bill Swensen sent out emails to his intramural basketball families, and I organized other groups to assign them weeks to go. The Knights of Columbus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians attended the first Sunday of the month. WISH, the Columbiettes and the Ladies AOH would attend the second Sunday. Special Olympics and the Graybeards attended the third Sunday, Sea Breeze Golden Age Club attended the fourth Sunday. My wife, Maureen, also came up with the slogan Join US to Save St. CamillUS and we used that to reach out to regular people on the peninsula to encourage them to attend Mass at least once a month.

“John Mullaly, as a member of the Graybeards, invited fellow Graybeards to think about the finances of St. Camillus and what we can do to help with that, and he asked Richie Knott of the Knights, and Mark Edwards of the AOH to come and St. Camillus parishioners, Barbara Buffolino and Patty Farragher, and Deacon Mike invited other members from St. Camillus along and it morphed into what can we do to build it up and increase attendance now, while worrying about finances later,” Featherston said. “The committee came up with the idea to call for altar servers, start a children’s choir and start family hospitality Mass once a month. Father Rodriguez was encouraging of our ideas. Bishop Raymond Chappetto, a former parish priest at St. Camillus and a family friend for 50 years, was my first source of encouragement, saying ‘put people back in Mass’ and Father Jim and Father Bill and Monsignor Bracken at St. Francis and Rev. Joe Miller at St. Mary Star of the Sea, have all been encouraging us to put people back in Mass and saying everything after that would come to work out.”

Beyond the committee efforts, Buffolino, a parishioner for more than 40 years, began to spread the message to the masses, publishing weekly letters in local newspapers since December to encourage people to return to Mass. “I started writing letters because I felt like I had to do something. I started writing what I was feeling and witnessing and every time I wrote a letter, my whole idea was to be positive and tell people to come back because things are happening,” Buffolino said. “When the decision was made to close St. Camillus, so many said that’s it, it’s closing, and people started going to other churches but there was this small group that wanted to do something from the beginning. We just knew we had to get people to join and help us, so this group formed from St. Francis and the Graybeards, the AOH, the Knights, the Columbiettes, WISH, Special Olympics, all these people that were interested in seeing St. Camillus stay open, and I think it just fed into the excitement of coming back to St. Camillus.”

As attendance started to grow, at the November 9 Mass, Fr. Rodrigues announced that December 28 would no longer be the last Mass for St. Camillus as Bishop Brennan had not made a decision regarding the future of the church, and sports programs would continue until further notice.

As excitement grew, it brought people to the church who aren’t even Catholic. Rochelle Burg, a local resident who is Jewish, began attending on behalf of her brother, Michael, and some of her special needs students, who all attend the Special Olympics program at St. Camillus. “I never wanted to see that go away. And I didn’t want another stupid building to be in its place. It’s such a beautiful church and it is so special to so many people,” Burg said. So, she started regularly attended Sunday Mass and encouraging friends and family to come with her, and the experience became even more meaningful. “Going to church really became the favorite part of my Sunday,” Burg said. “It was very refreshing to hear the homilies and Father Chuck, he just makes me smile. It’s nice to have a purpose on Sundays and wake up and meet with friends and family to go to church. The only thing that holds me back is if I’m not in town or have to do something. I intend to keep on going. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll convert.”

The effort to increase attendance was a success. “Last Sunday, we had 355 congregants,” Featherston said. “Now it’s like full almost every Sunday. People are squeezing into pews. Sometimes I’m not even in the regular pew I used to sit in. We had to start making sure we had enough communion for everyone. These are great problems to have!” Buffolino said.

St. Camillus was packed when Fr. Rodriguez announced the good news on Sunday, filling the beloved church with triumphant cheers. “It was such a moment of joy. The entire congregation stood up and started clapping and cheering. People were crying and hugging. It just showed that God is good. If you pray hard enough and believe in petitioning God, your prayers are answered. If you keep showing that love to the Lord, good things will happen. It was all rewarded,” Featherston said.

“When we heard the announcement, we were jubilant,” Buffolino said. “We all jumped out of the pews and clapped and hollered and cried. We were waiting for this decision and everyone told us it’s not gonna happen, Catholic schools are closing, churches are being sold, but we decided to give it our best effort, knowing that whatever the decision was, we tried. I’m still reeling from this. I just can’t believe it. We’re coming out of the dark and into the light now.”

Councilwoman Joann Ariola shared in their joy. “After attending the meeting in October and feeling the energy in that room, I had a feeling Bishop Brennan would make the right decision and I am glad he did,” Councilwoman Ariola said. “Rockaway is a force to be reckoned with, especially when it comes to matters of faith and community, and I was proud to stand with these parishioners who showed the diocese just how important St. Camillus is to the flock on the peninsula, and I look forward to many more years of great things ahead for the parish.”

The parishioners are grateful for Bishop Brennan’s change of heart. “I’m so happy and thankful that Bishop Brennan realized the energy and commitment that people have for this amazing church that is St. Camillus,” Featherston said. “We’re happy the bishop kept his word and listened to us and gave us the time to build this momentum up again,” Buffolino said.

“But now we really gotta do the work,” Buffolino added. As part of his announcement, Fr. Rodriguez announced some of the next steps. “Though Mass attendance has increased consistently and dramatically, the financial challenge before us requires inventive solutions and sacrifice. To that end, Bishop Brennan has decided to assign a new administrator, whose attention can be solely focused on building up with you what you have so lovingly fought for,” Fr. Rodriguez said. “Over the next few months, we will continue planning fundraisers and events, praying together for guidance from God who is the source and summit of all our joy.”

With a more positive path forward, the committee that rallied parishioners, urges everyone to continue attended Mass, and they will begin to come up with more ways to boost the parish spiritually and financially, by introducing more spiritual and fellowship activities, and fundraisers. Family Masses on the fourth Sunday of the month are set to return, with coffee and cake in Springman Hall following Mass, starting on Palm Sunday, March 29. There are also plans to boost the altar server program, bring back an evening rosary, restore confession and more. The Rockaway Irish Festival has already set their dates for June 6 and 7, with all proceeds going back to St. Camillus, Thrilla in Camilla is set to return, and St. Camillus is looking to hold additional fundraisers and events.

Anybody who wants to join the committee to help save St. Camillus can contact any of the committee members. Direct donations to St. Camillus can be made at www.givecentral.org. Search St. Camillus after clicking on Find Your Charity.

For further updates, follow Save St. Camillus Church on Facebook and keep reading Buffolino’s letters.