[Cardinal Timothy Dolan]…was asked to contrast the restoration of the great cathedral in mid-Manhattan with the archdiocesan policy of closing neighborhood churches \u201d\u201d no matter how beloved or beautiful \u201d\u201d whose membership has fallen significantly. These have included St. Thomas the Apostle in West Harlem, Our Lady Queen of Angels in East Harlem, and Our Lady of Vilnius in Lower Manhattan.<\/p>\n
If we have a church that demographically is now \u201d\u201d the people are gone \u201d\u201d we have to make a decision. Are we going to utilize our money serving souls and serving people, and expanding the church in areas where the growth is? Or are we going to maintain buildings for \u201d\u201d however laudably it might be \u201d\u201d artistic and cultural and historic purposes? Sometimes we do. But most of the times we say: \u201d\u02dcSorry, we\u2019re not in the business of solely museums. We\u2019re a living, dynamic, growing, expanding church and we have to keep up with it.\u2019 So the case can be made that St. Patrick\u2019s is, indeed, living, dynamic and growing. It\u2019s jammed. Every day it\u2019s jammed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n