Church Rejects Rumors As Catholic Schools' Merger Moves Ahead

HOWELL, NJ — As families spent last week seeing what the future holds in the merger of St. Veronica School in Howell and St. Aloysius School in Jackson, the Jackson church pushed back against rampant rumors.

The merger of the two schools was announced by the Diocese of Trenton in January, which said the combined enrollment of the two pre-K to eighth-grade schools is more than 350 students, was a result of mutual efforts of the two schools and two parishes.

The new school will be named Mother Seton Academy and will be housed at St. Veronica, which the diocese said has a larger facility and an athletic field. The St. Veronica site, at 4215 Route 9 in Howell, also is easily accessible, they said. It is just 3 miles from St. Aloysius.

But talk about the merger has morphed into rumors about St. Aloysius, located on Bennetts Mills Road, including that the church is closing down.

Last week, church officials said that could not be further from the truth.

"St. Aloysius Parish is a thriving parish of more than 6,300 registered families and is alive and well," the church said in a lengthy statement posted to Facebook and aimed a quelling rumors about the merger.

The St. Aloysius school building will be used for religious education — more than 1,200 students attend religious education classes at the school in the evenings now, officials said — and also for a number of parish groups, plus camps, classes and other activities.

"The building is in constant use and will continue to be used for these purposes," the St. Aloysius post said.

"Most of the rumors, gossip and innuendo are aimed at fear of the Orthodox Jewish Community," the St. Aloysius post said. "We must ask, Why is there fear of the Jewish People? For those who may be Catholic please read Vatican II’s documents Nostra Aetate #4 'Remembering, then, her common heritage with the Jews and moved not by political consideration, but solely by the religious motivation of Christian Charity, she (The Church) deplores all hatreds, persecutions, displays of antisemitism leveled at any time or from any source against the Jews' and in Lumen Gentium #16, 'This people (the Jewish People) remains most dear to God, for God does not repent of the gifts he makes nor of the calls he issues.'

"These same teachings are affirmed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Jewish people are God’s chosen and holy people, the people of the Covenant. Try meeting them and interacting with them. They are good neighbors and good citizens. Remember this is a free country and each may chose or not chose to believe in a deity, may choose to live where ever they wish. Would you want to be told where you can and cannot live?" the post said.

Father John Bambrick, pastor of St. Aloysius Parish, and Father Vincent Euk, pastor of St. Veronica Parish, said the decision was made to merge the schools to strengthen Catholic education in their communities and ensure it for the future, a statement from the diocese said.

"The designation of an Academy reflects the commitment to fulfill the robust and specific guidelines for a 21st Century Catholic Elementary School, which have been established by the Diocese’s Department of Catholic Schools," the diocese said.

Mother Seton Academy will formally start operations on July 1 and the merged school will open in September 2019. It will be owned and operated by both parishes and will be the Catholic School for both parishes. It will be jointly sponsored and financially supported by both parishes, the post said.

The name Mother Seton Academy honors the history of the Catholic Church in the United States, the diocese said. Mother Seton, who went on to become St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, is the first native born citizen to be canonized and the founder of the first American religious community, the Sisters of Charity. St. Elizabeth also opened the first Catholic parish school in the United States.

"Jesus teaches us the Golden Rule; Love God and your neighbor as yourself, the Jewish people are our neighbors. We are commanded by Jesus to love them," the St. Aloysius post said. "Finally, please don’t use our parish or school or merger to spread fear and hatred, we don’t teach it here and we don’t tolerate it here either."

The full post is below:

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