Sacred Heart

Cross posted on NEPA Blogs

SACRED HEART WILKES-BARRE FOUNDATION INC.

Our Mission



To preserve, maintain and protect the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Wilkes-Barre, PA and its contents, and other religious sites and artifacts of Slovak heritage. Initially, the corporation will fund a major capital improvement project for the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church.

I'm not catholic but this one hits home. I grew up on Madison Street right behind the church and many of my friends attended the grade school. We used to play baseball in the parking lot and later go bowling in the basement of the school. It was quite a scene watching people going into Saturday Mass dressed in bowling shirts. It's a beautiful building but there are fewer parishioners as the years go by to support the church and the building needs some major repairs that the Diocese of Scranton is not willing to support. I wonder if any of the recent Hispanic residents in the North End of W-B are attending Mass at Sacred Heart or if it's identity as a bastion of Slovak heritage might discourage them.

The last few months the news has been full of stories of church and Catholic School closings and you wonder if this one will be able to survive.