By Denise Smith Amos
The Cincinnati Enquirer
At Mount Auburn's Holy Name Church, Sister Mary Gallagher performs many duties that traditionally fall to a priest. Holy Name is one of 43 local parishes without a resident pastor. To stay vibrant, it relies on nuns and lay people. Here, Sister Mary (center) holds hands with Nikela Owens of Fort Thomas (right) and James Hall, 12, of Mt. Auburn during a service.
(Craig Ruttle photo)
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MOUNT AUBURN - Holy Name Church is 100 years old - a milestone it almost didn't reach.
Fourteen years ago, the church was slated to close. Sunday attendance was down to 30, mostly white retirees who were not from the African-American neighborhood.
There was no choir. A priest played tapes of liturgical music from a boombox.
Now, about 110 people - half black, half white - attend Sunday Mass. A dozen singers are in the choir, blending Catholic songs with African-American spirituals.
Children form a wide circle and dance during Mass. People stay to chat long after services are over. Sunday attendance is growing.
It's barely noticeable that Holy Name lacks a full-time pastor. Instead, Sister Mary Gallagher performs many of the duties usually reserved for a priest.
As the Catholic Church decides how best to serve its members with fewer and fewer priests, Holy Name is a vision of the future. It's one of 43 area parishes without a resident pastor. Members rely on nuns and lay people's work.
Father Alan Hirt preaches only once a month, usually officiating at St. Monica-St. George parish in University Heights. He works 60 hours a week there, but wishes he had more time for Holy Name.
"To get to know them better would be a great thing," he says. "But given there are only 168 hours in a week, I really can't imagine finding spare time."
Visiting priests and an assistant pastor rotate preaching duties at Holy Name. A lay minister speaks on special occasions. A church member just became a deacon, to take on some of the priestly chores.
And then there's Sister Mary.
The 62-year-old nun leads volunteers who put together Masses, feed the homeless and counsel single parents. She coordinates fund-raising, pays the bills, publishes the weekly bulletin and keeps the furnace in order.
"If we were not here, there'd be a sense of abandoning a community," she says.
The church began its turnaround in 1990 with a part-time pastor, the Rev. Terence Meehan, and Sister Elizabeth Marie Bowyer as administrator.
They couldn't afford a music director, so they recruited a student from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
They forged closer ties with the neighborhood, starting a Walk for Hunger and a summer barbecue.
"There was a spirit of people working together and then bringing their friends," Bowyer says.
Helen Lester-Smith, of East Walnut Hills, is an active member. Growing up in the Sixties, she says, "Whatever the priest said went."
That's not so today, she says: "You have to do the work. You can't just sit in the pew any more."
