Letters concerning the imminent closure of St. Katharine Drexel church have one common question: Why?

My questions concern what I considered as unnecessary and wasteful spending from 2008 through 2016. In 2006 new roofs were put on a convent and garages used by OLOAA and our church respectively.Around 2008 both were razed to construct an unnecessary parking lot. Out of submitted bids for the lot, the highest of close to $200,000 was accepted.The tower repair attempts cost our parish hundreds of thousands of dollars. The first failed attempt resulted through hiring a firm inexperienced in steeple repair. This failure forced the erection of the present scaffolding surrounding the church.Catholic parishes must have in place finance and pastoral councils consisting of parishioners to assist and advise pastors in their functions as administrators. This system has not ideally worked, if at all, in our case.Did parishioners receive clear and adequate reports on council meetings regarding issues and problems discussed? What members were present? Who was absent? If this had been done regularly parishioners could have questioned their pastor or council members on issues they found troubling. Dialogue should have begun and been demanded!This is not to blame council members. Unwittingly they simply may have become the rubber stamp to approve the pastor's decisions, sound or unsound, or perhaps, the agenda of the Allentown Diocese.I personally reported my concerns on these spending issues, including others I felt were unsound to the diocese via mail, phone and a personal visit, to no avail.My hope lies in the courage of our region's

S.O.S. group to continue their fight to reverse this latest disconcerting decision of the Allentown Diocese.Right now Satan is winning the battle by closing our churches and schools, thereby causing a loss of faith, but he will never win the war! Shame on those in high places who are being deceived by Satan's diabolical disorientation.Respectfully,Jack Zonca