Letters

‘Most Valuable Resource’

Posted

I am sad, angry and disgusted with the recent closing of John C. Coleman Catholic High School in Ulster County, leaving one high school (Our Lady of Lourdes in Poughkeepsie) as the only remaining Catholic high school in Ulster, Dutchess and Sullivan counties.

As stated in CNY’s Aug. 15 issue, the Archdiocese closed Coleman in 2001 due to “a growing deficit.” The determination of the Board of Trustees and dedicated parents and community members managed to keep the school alive for nearly two decades. But it was a losing proposition, with the aging building requiring repairs and upkeep above what the student population could financially sustain.

This is absolutely unacceptable. When did the support, nurturing and formation of our most valuable resource—our youth—become dependent upon their ability to be financially viable? Shouldn’t the boldest efforts, the strongest mission work, be focused on the very future of our Church? We cannot continue the New Evangelization mission if we cannot even provide for our own families and youth.

We must wake up! The Church is not dying, it is starving to death because we are not feeding it.

Maria Davenport
Kingston