By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
For over 20 years area residents have wondered about the future of St. Anothny's Church in St. Peter after the last regular mass was held in 1999.
The wait for a conclusive answer seemed to be over on April 8, when the Bishop of the Salina Diocese, Gerald Vincke, issued a decree that effectively ended any possibility the church would again be used for church purposes and put in motion the process for the building to be razed.
But some have promised to appeal that decision.
While that group of people across the country have worked to raise support online for saving the building — and perhaps a restoration to an active parish — many that live in the area see the harsh reality of the situation and are ready to say goodbye to the beloved church.
A group of local residents, all practicing Catholics with family histories dating back to the earliest settlers of the town, gathered Thursday to discuss the decree. They also wished to rebut what they see as a divisive effort online to save the church that only tells a part of the story.
Along with what they see as an unrealistic effort to save the church, the group is opposed to the bad blood that is being created between those that live elsewhere that have promised an appeal of the decision and those who remain living in the area.
The nervousness around the effort and the mischaracterization of the bishop and the community led to members of the group asking to not be named directly in this story, in fear of retaliation in a town so small the population is likely in the single digits, and a township that is only peppered with residents.
"The sad part about it is this isn't the only church in this position," a group member said. "There are many across the country and why this one got chosen to be such a controversial thing I don't know."
While the fight continues online, the group said area residents understand the practicality of the diocese's decision and argue many who support saving the church may not fully understand the realities of living in such a remote location.
"We are all from the area. A lot of these people were baptized, first communion, some of these people were born here, had their wedding in this church," one group member said. "We are local people. We have been here. We haven't moved in."
"Bred, born and raised right here," another group member said. "All of us."
All of the group said they are practicing Catholics in the three area parishes and could attest that most people who remain in the area are in agreement with the diocese.
"I agree with the Bishop," a group member said. "It's sad that the church would have to go, but why do you want to keep it when we are going to have less and less people here?"
"It's the people that make up the church," a group member said. "It's not the building, and when the people are gone, the church is gone. It's done its duty."
The Bishop in his decision noted a fund of around $1.3 million would be required to secure the building now and into the future, a move they said is financially irresponsible.
"How do you spend a million dollars to fix up a building when there are very few people left out here," one group member said.
"With the money that is going to take to fix that up," another member said. "that would feed a lot of poor people. That would do more good than spending it all on that building. It served its purpose as far as I am concerned."
Along with their disagreement with the efforts to dispute the decision from the diocese, they also said it was unfair to attack the Bishop about unrelated matters in a statement made by the St. Anthony Church of St. Peter Preservation Society that blamed Vincke for allowing defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick to reside within the diocese.
"Bringing McCarrick into this deal is about a low as they could get," a group member said. "That just should not have been."
Along with the statements made against the Bishop, the group also took offense to the statement that the reason the church was in disrepair was due to the local population being extremely elderly and disorganized.
The sad truth, they said, is there is virtually no population left in the area. With that unlikely to change and without a reason to maintain the church, they all agreed the time has come to demolish the building before it is in complete disrepair.
On the outside of the building, a stained glass window is taped together haphazardly to keep water from coming in, while the roof is disintegrating.
Inside, water damage is visible everywhere, mold is taking hold in various areas, ceiling tiles have caved in and over the years birds have found their way into the building, littering areas with feathers and droppings.
As the population is expected to continue to decline in the area, the diocese also noted the problems that arise when church buildings are sold.
And the group agrees.
"I understand their thinking," one group member said. "'What for?' There is nothing left to celebrate here anymore. It's a shame. Nobody likes to see this happen."
The group also was concerned about what would happen to the building even if it is fully restored now, a concern also shared by Vincke.
"I think what everyone is afraid of, and us few here aren't the only ones," a group member said, "you get this (building) into the wrong hands, say the preservation society doesn't work out, which is a toss-up...who knows what they could do with it. Who knows what it will bring in. You just don't know. Nobody knows the future. The school is a prime example."
The group noted the numerous school buildings in the area that have been long abandoned and are now often a decaying blemish in many small towns, including the Catholic school that remains in disrepair next to the church building in St. Peter.
"That used to be a school," a group member said, pointing to the boarded-up building. "Penokee had a school. Morland had a school, but when there are no people, you close it up and go on."
For the building to be saved by the preservation society, the group also noted the location of the town itself makes the possibility of regular visitors to the building unlikely, a different situation from other historic church buildings that have been saved in more accessible areas of the state.
"Here you have to drive 12-14 miles on dirt roads to get here, and if it's muddy, you don't want to come," a group member said.
The group believes those realities may be lost on the supporters of the preservation effort online, many of which are decades removed from the area, if they have any personal connection at all.
In fact area residents almost unanimously agree the best outcome going forward is the demolition of the church.
"If you want to come out and try to preserve a church, wouldn't you want to talk to the people in the community first," a group member said.
"Everybody says we do this for our ancestors," another group member said. "Ancestors really don't care anymore."
They said even the board members of the Preservation Society are not local.
"Most of those supporters you see on the Facebook page are not from around here," a group member said.
"There is only one that I actually know, and she used to live here," another group member said.
The society in their statement said their desire is to save the church and fully restore it with the intent to hold a minimum of two masses annually, as well as to make it a modern-day place of prayer and quiet reflection for visitors who come to St. Peter searching for their Volga-German ancestry.
It would also serve as a place to understand the deep faith of their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents who built St. Peter, the society said.
But the group said the finding those who would be needed to keep the building in good repair and open for visitors would also require people that are unlikely to materialize as time passes.
"I don't think the outsiders that are all in favor of this are going to come here to support a mass," a group member said.
With the difficulties presented in the preservation effort and the likely continued decline of the area population, the group said the effort to postpone the inevitable demolition is only making the situation harder.
"The only outcome I see coming out of this is it's going to drag it on forever," a group member said.
"I say get it over with as cheaply as we can," another group member said.
But they also said a memorial of some sort should be installed, like the church bell, or another type of marker to be a reminder of the church and their appreciation for those who built the town.
"It's not that we don't love St. Peter church, we do," a group member said.
But despite that love, the group of locals understands the reality of the situation and seem ready to move on, even as hundreds from around the country are anxious to share support online, even if they haven't been in the town in decades.
"Everybody has memories," a group member said. "We all have memories, but you can never recreate that same memory. I don't care how much money you spend on something. It's never the same."
"It comes to the point that none of us want to see this happen, but reality has to set in," a group member said.
"And common sense," said another.
"A million dollars is not common sense," yet another member of the group quickly chimed in.