La Milagrosa, a Catholic church which has served the city's Spanish speaking community for more than 100 years, is set to be sold, leaving the congregation with no home base to call their own. The church, which is owned by the Vincentians, a Barcelona based order of Catholic clergymen, will hypothetically be sold in order to finance pensions and retirement funds.
The church congregation is understandably up in arms about plans to sell the church. Though they have petitioned the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the Archdiocese does not own the church, and therefore has no power over its fate.
With a glut of school buildings hitting the market and the multitude of abandoned or near-abandoned houses of worship already up for grabs, we have to wonder: who is going to buy La Milagrosa?
An article about the plan to sell the church published last September noted that services would continue indefinitely, because no buyer had been found. Plans to close the Church therefore suggest a conclusion to the sales process. Though no one has mentioned a confirmed buyer, the real estate management company representing the Vincentians does not list the church as an available property on its website.
· Group rallies to protest closure of Spanish chapel [Philly.com]
· La Milagrosa chapel to close in June [Philly.com]
· La Milagrosa in Philadelphia Closing [The hisPANIC]