By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
The old St. Joseph Catholic Church was the setting for some of the most important events in Mary Beth Mollo-Alvare’s life – both happy and sad.
She received her first Holy Communion in the historic sanctuary, was married there and also celebrated the baptism of her three children there. The church is also where her parents’ funerals were held.
“My heart is in this church. It is so beautiful inside,” she said Saturday while standing in front of the 136-year-old building topped by a towering white steeple and cross.
The last time Mollo-Alvare stepped inside the church was two years ago, when she attended a wedding. The landmark structure overlooking Landis Avenue at 44th Street in Sea Isle City is closed now. Some parishioners fear it may never reopen now that a bishop has decreed that the church is no longer considered a sacred place.
Preservationists who want to save the church believe that the “Decree of Relegation” by Bishop Dennis Sullivan on Feb. 5 is a prelude to the building’s demolition. They have been fighting with the church leadership over the fate of the building and are vowing to take their battle all the way to the Vatican if necessary.
“Consecration, not relegation. That should be our chant,” said Sea Isle resident Andy Bednarek, who served as a church altar boy and is now a member of a preservationist group called Save Our Historic St. Joseph’s Church.
Bednarek joined with Mollo-Alvare and Kathleen Monville Dooley outside the church on Saturday afternoon for a quiet protest against the bishop’s ruling that it is no longer sacred.
Carrying a blue “Save Our Historic St. Joseph’s Church” sign, Monville Dooley said she plans to stage a peaceful protest every Saturday and Sunday before Mass.
“I feel like there have been so many generations of people who have been part of this church. We have to save it for them,” Monville Dooley said.
She was married in the old church in 1977. She said her family began attending the church in 1922 after they first moved to Sea Isle. Monville Dooley now lives in Ocean View, but said she remains emotionally tied to the church
Preservationists say the old church, built in 1884, is a sacred sanctuary that has been a religious and historic landmark in Sea Isle dating back nearly as long as the shore town’s formal founding in 1882 by visionary real estate developer Charles K. Landis.
The building is an example of the Gothic-revival architectural style. It has stained-glass windows 100 years old, mahogany front doors and soaring exposed arched beams in the sanctuary that resemble the inside of a ship’s hull, church members say.
The historic church stands side-by-side with the modern $7 million St. Joseph Catholic Church that opened in December 2011. The new church includes a 1,300-seat sanctuary serving as the main worship hall for the congregation.
“When they built the new church, it was under the condition that this little church would stay open. But they went back on their word,” said Mollo-Alvare, a former Sea Isle resident who now lives in Corbin City.
Bishop Sullivan, who heads the Camden Diocese overseeing St. Joseph Catholic Church, wrote in an Oct. 29, 2018, letter that following the opening of the new church, the old church “does not play a key role in the modern life of the parish.”
For more than two years, preservationists have been locked in an intense dispute with the church’s leadership, headed by Father Joseph Perreault, pastor of St. Joseph’s, over the future of the old sanctuary.
Father Perreault and a group of church leaders believe the old church is a financial burden and should be considered for redevelopment into a new “spiritual life center.” However, preservationists want the building maintained and put back into use for events such as weddings, funerals and baptisms.
Father Perreault declined to comment Saturday about the protesters and the Save Our Historic St. Joseph’s Church campaign.
“I’ve made all the comments I’m going to make about them for two years,” he said.
In March 2019, Father Perreault sent a two-page letter to parishioners urging both sides to reach “middle ground” in the controversy. Then this past Feb. 11 he sent another letter to the congregation explaining that St. Joseph’s could not afford the “major capital investment” required to refurbish the old church, including the need for a new heating and air-conditioning system.
Not wanting to take on substantial debt to finance the old church’s upgrades, the Parish Council and Parish Finance Council both unanimously voted to seek the “Decree of Relegation” from the bishop, Father Perreault wrote.
In the meantime, no date has been announced for the old church’s demolition.
As part of their campaign to save the church, the preservationists circulated a petition that has collected about 3,000 signatures supporting their efforts. They also started the website saveourhistoricstjosephschurch.org and a Facebook page as fundraising tools to help pay for the attorneys and other expenses. They are promising litigation to stop the church from being torn down.
