A Protestant Looks at the Closing of Wildwood Catholic

A few years ago my husband and I were traveling in a desolate corner of northeastern New Mexico when we came upon a long abandoned Spanish Catholic Mission. We were so impressed by the forlorn remains of what had been a thriving Indian church because it demonstrated to us a wonderful sense of “mission” on the part of those intrepid, lonely priests who would, for the love of the Gospel, leave everything known and comfortable in Europe to live in a place as remote and inhospitable as the dark side of the moon would be to me today.
There was no power, no glory and certainly no gold to be derived from that posting — only the satisfaction of sharing the “words of life” with a group of people.
I think of that sense of purpose and dedication of those isolated men as I contemplate the closing of Wildwood Catholic. Being a Protestant, I have no connection with the Roman Catholic Church, but Art and I are parents of three children who graduated from that school. (Our fourth graduated from Cape Christian Academy). Our association with the school is very strong and our memories are extremely positive. Our niece graduated from there and our nephew, David, is presently enrolled as a junior, so we are hardly uninterested observers.
I have seen extremely dedicated faculty and administrators working to educate the students both intellectually and spiritually. They have worked for less money than their public school peers, but have considered their job to be much like that of those lonely priests in the 17th century New Mexico outposts; a mission.
I fear the Camden Diocese has lost that sense of mission and is looking at the school as an economic proposition and nothing else. What a mistake!
There is another Christian school in the county, but it has always been much smaller and certainly hasn’t had the backing of the Church of Rome. It has struggled along as a largely independent entity existing because the parents and administrators believed very strongly in making a Christ-centered education available for the kids in this county. It too has suffered from the economic downturn and decreased enrollment, but Cape Christian remains open with only 88 students, down from 200 several years ago.
Wildwood Catholic is at the mercy of a remote and seemingly indifferent decision maker. They have not heard the impassioned pleas of the congregations of Assumption and St. Ann or the parents of the three elementary schools that they are closing. Everyone recognizes economic realities but the lack of involvement in the planning of all these closings by the people who sit in the pews and put offerings on the plate, much less their hearts into their faith, causes great resentment and in many cases a disaffection for the church they have long worshipped in.
Faculty and community will greatly suffer by the closing of this wonderful institution. I only ask, has the Camden Diocese lost its sense of purpose and can they continue to have the love of their parishioners when such decisions are made in secret and then announced as if it were God’s word and not to be questioned?
PATRICIA HALL, the publisher’s wife