Tag: Diocese of Toledo

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SHoWLE Will Not Take St. Anthony Land Bank Pledge

screenshot of Toledo officials and Rep. Marcy Kaptur at a press conference demanding the Diocese of Toledo save St. Anthony church

*For Immediate Release*

Toledo, Ohio, June 22, 2018 — The Lucas County Land Bank, a coun­ty agency, vot­ed to accept the dona­tion of St. Anthony Church from the Diocese of Toledo con­tin­gent on an engi­neer­ing inspec­tion and a call for writ­ten pledges to help in rede­vel­op­ing the build­ing. At this time the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie (SHoWLE) has decid­ed NOT to make a pledge.

“Although the church and state issues we were con­cerned about seem to be abat­ed. We are still trou­bled with the city and coun­ty tak­ing on this project with­out any con­crete plans,” said SHoWLE President Doug Berger.

“We do feel that the Padua Center and the neigh­bor­hood should not only have a seat at the table but should be tak­ing the lead in any plans for the build­ing. We did­n’t feel it was appro­pri­ate telling them how to reuse the build­ing.”

Berger added that SHoWLE will be mon­i­tor­ing the issue and should it look like out­siders are min­i­miz­ing or ignor­ing neigh­bor­hood input then it is pre­pared to sup­port the neigh­bor­hood.

“Whatever is done with the build­ing has to ben­e­fit the whole neigh­bor­hood and not just the out­siders who ‘saved’ it,” Berger said.

Media Contacts

Douglas Berger — President
567–302-0209

Shawn Meagley — co-founder
419–266-7945

 

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Humanists Ask Toledo Officials Not To Insert Themselves In Saving St. Anthony

screenshot of Toledo officials and Rep. Marcy Kaptur at a press conference demanding the Diocese of Toledo save St. Anthony church

The Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie (SHoWLE) urge Toledo city offi­cials and US Rep. Marcy Kaptur not to insert them­selves in the effort to save St. Anthony Catholic Church on Nebraska Avenue.

“Seeing Rep. Kaptur and cur­rent and past Toledo elect­ed offi­cials stand­ing at a podi­um with the city of Toledo seal, demand­ing the Diocese of Toledo not tear down St. Anthony is trou­bling,” Doug Berger, President of SHoWLE said.

The sep­a­ra­tion of church and state not only pro­tects the gov­ern­ment from reli­gious intru­sion but also pro­tects reli­gion from some intru­sion by the gov­ern­ment.

“It sets a bad prece­dent, espe­cial­ly as orga­nized reli­gion con­tin­ues to lose mem­bers,” Berger said. “The City of Toledo can’t save all the old church­es in the city and when it choos­es not to then that is going to be a no win sit­u­a­tion.”

The Diocese of Toledo, in a state­ment, won­dered where the calls to save the build­ing were for the past 13 years after it closed and as the build­ing con­tin­ued to dete­ri­o­rate.

“The gov­ern­ment offi­cials demand­ing the build­ing not be torn down will stick the Diocese with the repair bills should they pre­vail. The only way for tax dol­lars to be spent on a ren­o­va­tion and/or reuse would require the prop­er­ty be sold to a non-religious enti­ty at a fair mar­ket price,” Berger said.

The mis­lead­ing state­ment by a com­mu­ni­ty mem­ber that demo­li­tion would be a health and safe­ty issue is also a prob­lem.

“If the build­ing were kept, it would still need any asbestos and lead paint removed and it would have to meet mod­ern build­ing stan­dards. I don’t think the Diocese hired a fly by night demo­li­tion com­pa­ny who would­n’t take the required pre­cau­tions in tear­ing down such an old build­ing.”

The build­ing is his­tor­i­cal and sig­nif­i­cant to many peo­ple in the com­mu­ni­ty but there has­n’t been any spe­cif­ic plans from the peo­ple want­i­ng to keep it.

SHoWLE believes that Rep. Kaptur and the city of Toledo should­n’t pick sides in the issue and they should stay neu­tral as called for in the 1st amend­ment.

Related sto­ry:

Kaptur, Kapszukiewicz call on dio­cese to halt St. Anthony demo­li­tion