Two Ukrainian Catholic schools headed for shutdown in 2004 (02/22/04)

Two Ukrainian Catholic schools headed for shutdown in 2004

by Roma Hadzewycz

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - There is no future for two Ukrainian Catholic parochial schools - one in New Jersey and the other in Pennsylvania - it was learned this week, as both are expected to close at the end of the current school year.

St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic School in Newark, N.J., will close its doors in June. The official announcement of the closing was made by the pastor of St. John's Church, the Rev. Bohdan Lukie, on Monday evening, February 16. Letters were also sent home to parents, and by week's end a message was sent to all parishioners of St. John's Church. (An article by the Rev. Lukie appears on page 4 of this issue.)

The status of another Ukrainian Catholic school, St. John the Baptist in Northampton, Pa., remained unclear at press time. Though by the early part of this week the word had gone out into the community that the school is indeed closing at the end of the school year, The Weekly could get no one to confirm or deny the news. The Rev. David Clooney, contacted by phone at the parish rectory, was unavailable and did not respond to a voice mail message left at his number.

The Weekly had reported on the school's threatened closing in its February 8 issue, and at the time it was noted that Metropolitan-Archbishop Stefan Soroka had agreed to meet with the school's principal, Michael Duda, on February 16.

The Metropolitan's Chancery in Philadelphia also would not confirm or deny the news about the Northampton school. Metropolitan-Archbishop Soroka was unavailable as he was in a meeting, Sister Lydia, the metropolitan's secretary, told The Weekly.

Sister Lydia said "official notifications will be sent to the newspapers" once the archbishop is ready to release that information. She added that the Archeparchy of Philadelphia had not yet made a statement and noted that she was not at liberty to say whether a decision had been made on the fate of St. John's in Northampton.

Speaking with The Weekly via telephone, the Rev. Lukie said "it is my assumption that St. John's in Northampton is closing," however, he added that he could not say whether the final decision had been announced.

Personnel at St. John's School in Northampton told The Weekly they could not comment at this time.

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