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To the Editor:
While it is obvious to most Catholics that the
decline in church attendance and the high cost
in maintenance of aging buildings will bring
some closures of parishes in this Diocese, there
are some things which are not so obvious.
In Hammonton, there are three parishes that
serve the needs of the Catholic population.
Recently, we have been informed that St. Joseph
will remain open with St. Martin serving as the
auxiliary parish. St. Anthony of Padua is slated
to close.
St. Anthony of Padua, with its vast property,
beautiful parish hall, well-maintained church
and plenty of parking is slated to close. What?
As of now, there is no hall at St. Joseph and
the accommodations at St. Martin’s parish hall
are not accessible to the handicapped. The
wheelchair ramp at St. Martin deserves a place
in the Special Olympics for its almost
impossible pitch. The church roof has leaked
almost since the parish opened and continues to
do so to this day.
I understand that everyone loves their own
parish, the place where they received Holy
Communion, were married and had their children
baptized. However, if there is to be any kind of
equity or fair-mindedness on the part of the
“powers that be,” if there is a parish to be
closed in Hammonton, it should not be St.
Anthony of Padua.
St. Anthony serves the needs of all those on
“the other side of town.” The church, from its
inception in the Hammonton Fire Hall, has
accommodated the faithful from Wharton Park and
all the Catholic families living nearer to Route
30 as well as those on the other side of the
highway. Now it is a convenient trip for those
living at the Heritage who come to Mass each
week and have easy access to the church
building.
Something is wrong. It is up to the parishioners
of St. Anthony to attempt to right that wrong.
We deserve an answer that makes sense. We
deserve to know what thought processes went into
this life-changing decision.
The church has called for more laity
involvement. Let’s get involved.
Maureen Federico
Hammonton
To the Editor:
When will it stop? While watching
a movie Friday night on Turner Classic Movies, I
was shocked when it ended quite abruptly. Once
again, Comcast has proven that they do not care
about the customer, but only the bottom line.
I would appreciate someone, anyone at your
company, explaining to me why I should continue
subscribing to a company that delivers less and
less but charges more.
Over the past months I have lost the Travel
Channel, Game Show Network, Court TV, Turner
Classic Movies, and American Movie Classics.
There have been other channels also, but there
has never been an explanation or reduction in
the monthly bill.
This is obviously a ploy to force your customers
to spend even more money and purchase the higher
tier packages. It will not work. I suggest you
remove the three Spanish channels I receive
because I don’t speak Spanish, the four shopping
channels, I shop at Wal-Mart, and the four
religious channels; I go to church on Sunday.
Comcast should stop force feeding garbage TV to
its customers and instead listen to what they
really want. Be aware there are other choices.
Direct TV and the Dish Network are looking
better and better. They can’t be worse. Oh and
by the way, Verizon’s new cable system is coming
our way.
Peter P. Puentes
Hammonton
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