Cathedral Project On Hold

By DAVE GOSSETT For the News-Register
STEUBENVILLE — Two months after the Diocese of Steubenville held a cornerstone blessing for the proposed Triumph of the Cross Cathedral, Bishop R. Daniel Conlon has put the project on hold.

In a statement issued Saturday by the diocesan communications office and announced at city parishes Saturday and today, Conlon said the diocesan Finance Council decided on Friday “that the assumption of such a large debt to construct a new parish church, which would also serve as the cathedral, is too risky.”

“Plans for Triumph of the Cross Cathedral cannot move forward, despite a successful capital campaign that raised approximately $8.5 million — much of the money is being returned to parishes in the diocese for their use — and bids for the construction coming in as projected,” Conlon stated.

The bishop will meet with the Rev. Timothy P. McGuire, pastor of Triumph of the Cross, and the Rev. Thomas A. Chillog, diocesan episcopal vicar of pastoral planning and personnel, Monday to discuss “where to go from here.”

Bishop Conlon said he “expects to gather people to aid in developing a Plan B.”

Diocesan spokesperson Pat DeFrancis said Saturday “the consolidation of services and the daily Mass schedule that saw daily religious services now held at the Holy Name Cathedral and Holy Rosary Church will stay in place.”

“But as far as the proposed closing of six parishes in the city, that is all up in the air until the bishop meets with Father McGuire and Father Chillog,” explained DeFrancis.

McGuire had proposed the six parishes in the city, designated for merger, be closed under canon law on Jan. 14 and then allow them to continue operating as part of the Triumph of the Cross parish.

McGuire’s proposal to Bishop Conlon called for closing Holy Name Cathedral, Holy Rosary Church, St. Anthony Church, St. Pius the Tenth Church, St. Stanislaus Church and Servants of Christ the King parish under church law.

“The members of these parishes would automatically become members of Triumph of the Cross parish, while their former church buildings would remain operational as part of the Triumph of the Cross and maintain their current Mass schedules pending further study,” McGuire stated.

The proposal to merge the six parishes as part of the Triumph of the Cross parish will mean the finances from the affected parishes will fall under a single financing accounting.

And McGuire said a “reduction will occur in the total number of priests to serve those six parishes by two.”

DeFrancis said the proposal to canonically close the six parishes and re-open them under the auspices of the Triumph of the Cross “is now on hold.”

According to the diocesan news release, “We still need to reduce the number of parishes in Steubenville,” the bishop said. “There still is the possibility of a new, less expensive church,” Conlon added.

However, the bishop emphasized, “My ultimate concern is with the spiritual health of the Catholic people of Steubenville, and the diocese as a whole.”

Triumph of the Cross Parish was established Sept. 14, 2005, after a pastoral plan for the city of Steubenville was implemented by Bishop Conlon.

The plan followed two years of study by a task force, empowered by the bishop, to examine the life of the church in the municipality.

The new parish church and cathedral was to seat 800 and be a composite of six Steubenville parishes - Holy Name Cathedral, Holy Rosary, St. Anthony, St. Pius the Tenth, St. Stanislaus and Servants of Christ the King.

On Sept. 14, Cardinal Francis Arinze joined Conlon at the site of the proposed new church for the official cornerstone blessing.