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From: <>
Subject: [CATHOLIC] St. Patricks church on the Lizard, Iowa
Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2004 17:23:24 -0600
References: <200402011208.i11C8dpo003100@lists2.rootsweb.com>

Why are we getting rid of these HISTORIC landmarks in our church??? Please
read this article... and tell me why this one is slated to be burned??
Nicole

Historic church on Lizard Creek set to be demolished, burned
By SHIRLEY RAGSDALE
Register Religion Editor
01/31/2004

The snow falling on and around St. Patrick's Catholic Church on Lizard Creek
normally would mark another winter storm enveloping the empty historic
structure.
This time, Monday's snowfall held ominous portent for the oldest parish in
Webster County. The Clare fire department was waiting for adequate snow
cover
before the department could demolish it by fire.
"It is ironic that a church built by Irish immigrants who fled religious
repression in their homeland, immigrated to this country and settled on
Lizard
Creek would be burned," said Maureen Fitzgerald of Omaha, a
great-great-great-granddaughter of one of the four men who gave an acre of
land for the church
site. "One of the ways the British used to try to crush their religion was
to burn
their churches."
The church is still standing, but area residents were notified last Sunday
that the building would be leveled. The news was in the weekly bulletin for
St.
John Catholic Church of Gilmore City, the parish that has taken care of St.
Patrick's since it closed in 1984.
The church council last year asked Sioux City Bishop Daniel DiNardo for
permission to level the building and he approved it, said Jim Wharton,
spokesman
for the diocese.
"The church has been closed for 20 years," Wharton said. "The foundation is
failing. There's nothing in the building, it is empty. There's nothing there
to
show it is a sacred space anymore."
That assessment falls short for the descendants of the Irish community who
were baptized and married in the church and buried in the nearby cemetery.
The
church and grounds are packed with family memories and the spirits of those
who
lived there long ago.
"I feel it is a holy place when I go out there," said Nicole Coppinger of
Clare, who is a descendant of the Irish settlers. "When I was out walking in
the
snow there today, I felt a deep connection with my ancestors. It is a
peaceful
place."
Rick Roder of Remsen, who wrote a history on the Sioux City Diocese's 100th
anniversary in 2002, made a pilgrimage to the church that year.
"As I walked the grounds, I had a feeling that the whole place was holy,
even
out in the cemetery," Roder said. "I had a sense of history. And if anyone
knew the history and hardship the people went through there, they would have
the
same feeling.
"Out front of the church, I took a few minutes to say a prayer of
thanksgiving for all that the pioneer Catholics had done for their progeny
and for our
diocese. I prayed for the repose of the souls of those buried in the
cemetery."
Roder believes the diocese is wrong in assuming St. Patrick never had its
own
pastor. According to his research, the church had a resident pastor from
1872
to 1882. The Rev. Matthew Norton arrived the year the church was dedicated
and lived there until he died in 1887. He was succeeded by the Rev. Matthew
Darcy, who moved to Clare in 1889, but continued to serve the parish until
1895.
"They must not have read the diocese history book," Roder said.
The original church structure burned in 1930, at the depth of the Great
Depression. A new church, which cost $7,718, was standing in three months, a
great
sacrifice for the Irish farmers.
There were 13 families and three single Catholics in the congregation when
the church was closed in 1984, Wharton said.
Although the altar and pews were stripped from the church, interest and a
feeling of ownership has never flagged among the descendants, Fitzgerald
said.
"When the church was closed, people from the congregation left money for the
church's upkeep," Fitzgerald said. "Bishop Lawrence Soens kept the funds for
some time and then returned them. It is my understanding that he gave orders
that nobody was to touch the church and no money was to be spent on it."
Families asked permission in 1990 to paint the little church, Wharton said.
"It didn't make sense spending money on it," he said.
Fitzgerald wrote DiNardo Jan. 23, "begging him to give me six months to put
together a group of people to take over care of the church and move it. That
would alleviate the diocese's liability and responsibility."
She also spoke at length Tuesday to the bishop's assistant, Monsignor
Michael
Sernett, "and while he was both compassionate and interested, my sense is
that the building will still shortly be burned."
If it happens, Coppinger will be there. The bishop left instructions that as
long as people kept a safe distance and were respectful, they should be
allowed to observe.
"I will go and watch it burn," she said. "I would like to see a priest
there,
to have a blessing before it is set on fire. And I want there to be a
memorial, incorporating the cornerstone - the only thing that survived the
1930 fire
that destroyed the original church.
"It is important for people to know that for the Irish immigrants who came
to
this new land for a new life, to build homes and families, it was just as
important to build a community and a church. This is the end of an era and
the
beginning of a new one."

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