Catholic Charities moves forward with plans to demolish Our Lady of Loreto Church
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The statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary that welcomes people to Our Lady of Loreto Roman Catholic Church in Ocean Hill bears a plaque reading “Semper Vivus.” The Latin phrase is translated as “Ever Alive.” However, the impending fate of this long-shuttered church building may now contradict that motto.
In an action that seems to pit Christianity’s mission to rescue the needy against a community’s need to preserve its heritage, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens announced on Monday that they “must move ahead with plans to demolish the structure of Our Lady of Loreto Church.” Msgr. Alfred LoPinto, CEO of Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens, which leased the property from the Diocese of Brooklyn, issued this statement. The Catholic Charities office is in Downtown Brooklyn.
Our Lady of Loreto Church, located at 124 Sackman St. in the Ocean Hill section of Brownsville, was built around 1908 as a place of spiritual refuge for the area’s Italian immigrants, who at the time were shunned and faced discrimination from other immigrant groups who had already settled in Brooklyn. Over time, the neighborhood’s ethnic demographic changed, but the church was still utilized as a center for faith and heritage.