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Articles
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Chapter Fourteen
Two New Parishes Created By James Wudarczyk In 1993 Lawrenceville Catholics witnessed the closing of all six Roman Catholic parishes in the community. The Most Reverend Donald Wuerl, Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, suppressed the existing parishes, and merged them into two new parishes.
The former Saint Augustine, Saint John the Baptist, Holy Family and Saint Mary were combined to form Our Lady of the Angels. Saint John the Baptist was closed but the other churches remained opened under the administration of the Capuchin Franciscan Fathers, who previously staffed Saint Augustine Church.
Saint Kieran and Saint Mary of the Assumption were merged into the newly created parish of Saint Matthew. Eventually the Franciscan TORs assumed spiritual leadership of the parish.
The “suppression” of the former parishes came about as a result of a Diocesan process known as “Reorganization/Revitalization.” Bishop Wuerl continued the work of his predecessor in assessing the state of the parish. A number of factors were taken into consideration: large number of Catholics were no longer practicing their faith, a shortage of priests, and the city had lost approximately one-half of its population.
For the purpose of this study, the brief histories of the following parishes will culminate in 1993 since that is the year they ceased to be their own unique entities. So while many of the churches remain open, they have a new identity, central administration, joint finances, and merged parish or pastoral councils.
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Stephen
Collins Foster (1826-1864)
Born on July 4, 1826, while the country celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence, Stephen Foster has become Lawrenceville’s most famous native son. He was the son of William Barclay Foster, founder of Lawrenceville and Eliza Tomlinson. Foster’s parents moved to Allegheny City (now Pittsburgh’s North Side) when Stephen was very small.
He developed a love for music at a very tender age of about three or four, and from that point forward there was no stopping him. Foster is considered by many to be the world’s foremost composer, and is the only person to have written two state songs – “My Old Kentucky Home” (Kentucky) and “Swannee River” (Florida). A third song “Oh! Susanna” was considered by the state of California as being their state song, but it was rejected.
Today he is considered the founder of “Pop Music” and his works are played throughout the world. There are many books written on Stephen Foster and the University of Pittsburgh maintains the Stephen Foster Memorial Center in his honor. It is located in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh close to the Cathedral of Learning. |
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