The closing and/or consolidation of parochial schools hit close to home for Greenfield native Mike McCarthy, head coach of the Green Bay Packers and a alumnus of St. Rosalia Academy, whose closure recently was announced by the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. Similar to other Catholic-school closures in recent years, St. Rosalia suffered from declining enrollment and financial burdens, according to the diocese. Mr. McCarthy, who was at St. Rosalia for Mike McCarthy Day, had set up a foundation that over the past seven years provided $550,000 to the school and parish. His remarks underscore the lifelong connection to one's Catholic education.
“I'm extremely disappointed. I'm not going to point fingers. But this situation in Greenfield is very personal to me and my family. My family has four generations going through there.”
“When you lose something important, you just wish you would have had a chance to save it.”
“To be in this predicament is disappointing. I'm sick about it. When you feel like you are doing your part to keep things going, just like everything in life, you want to be communicated with and you want accountability. Something obviously didn't go right to be in this position. I'm just stating the obvious.”
TribLive
Troy Hill, population 3,000, is situated on a small plateau overlooking Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It’s a historically German, but quintessentially Pittsburghian, neighborhood characterized by cozy row houses, gritty neighborhood bars, cool new restaurants, and lovingly decorated front porches bedecked with Steelers flags and flower baskets. But there is more in Troy Hill than meets the eye.
At 1704 Harpster Street sits St. Anthony’s chapel, which houses the second-largest collection of Christian relics in existence after the Vatican. Within the greige brick facade are the bones, blood, teeth, ashes, hair, and personal belongings of the holiest members of the Christian church: the apostles, saints and martyrs. There are approximately 5,000 relics in total.
Inside the church, the eye is first drawn to a ceiling painted with religious symbols and names and then to tall walnut cases displaying hundreds of metal artifacts behind glass. There are miniature metal churches, monstrances, chasses (caskets), and medallions pinned to burgundy velvet. Each ornament contains a tiny, mysterious particle, tied in red embroidery thread and sealed with wax, which can be viewed through a clear glass or crystal aperture. There are what look like fingernail slivers and jagged pieces of porous grey bone. Some hold bits of cloth stained with drops of dried brown liquid.
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