Parishioners of Most Precious Blood, a Little Italy church that is the center of the annual San Gennaro Festival, announced on January 14 that the church is currently not for sale and is being sold as part of an East Village church. I was informed that the pastor was jointly selling the church. Administers both parishes.
“This building is not for sale,” archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling said of the building at 113 Baxter Street. The building also has a door onto Mulberry Street.
He also confirmed that Kevin Nelan, the former pastor of Immaculate Conception Church on East 14th Street, will be the “pastor of both parishes.” It’s not uncommon. “
However, many questions remain unanswered. This parish was founded in his 1888, and was originally intended to serve as a national shrine for the Italian Americans who flocked to Lower Manhattan at the end of the 19th century. We are now open. As America’s population moved primarily to the suburbs, the area of Little Italy became smaller.
Mass is celebrated only once each Sunday, and the archdiocese may focus on holding Mass only during the weeks when the street fair is held, making it difficult to maintain even that limited schedule. I haven’t made any promises.
The largest is the San Gennaro Festival, which celebrates the northern Italian saint and attracts up to a million people each September for a week-long celebration of Italian food and culture.
“Representatives of the archdiocese met with parishioners after Mass on January 14,” Zwilling said. “At that time, parishioners were informed that the Masses of San Gennaro, Mass of St. Vincent and Mass of San Rocco would continue as usual this year.”
Message The new pastor, Mr. Nelan, did not return calls or emails seeking comment.
At least one parishioner had challenged Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s Jan. 1 proclamation dissolving the church’s 10-year merger with the former St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The recently formed nonprofit Friends of Most Precious Blood was said to be concerned that the dissolution of the merger would be a step toward selling off church property and abolishing the parish. .
“My mother and father got married in that church,” says Café Palermo, known as the “Cannoli King,” which he started in Little Italy 50 years ago and still attracts celebrities and tourists. said John Del Toro, owner of. He is also the owner of Baby John’s Pizza. “For Italian Americans, this is very important,” he said, “and Italian Americans are going to have to come together to save it.”
In 2018, the parish’s former parsonage was sold to a developer for $14 million and a luxury condominium was built on the site.
The archdiocese acknowledged it had received at least some objections to the demerger with the former St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He did not reveal plans for the church and diocese beyond this year.
“Further studies and consultations will follow before a decision is made,” Zwilling said.