In a letter dated November 30, 1999, sent to Rev. Msgr. Francis W. Beach, Regional Vicar for Philadelphia-North, Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua, Archbishop of Philadelphia, accepted the Cluster Pastoral Plan for Cluster 19, and commended the pastors and all who served on the Cluster Pastoral Planning Committee.

The seven parishes of Cluster19 are:
St. Ambrose
Holy Angels
Incarnation of Our Lord
St. Veronica
St. Helena
St. Hugh of Cluny
Our Lady of Hope

Cluster 19's plan centers on these objectives:
1) Address the need for quality education on the sacramental life of the Church for children, teenagers and adults. This will be accomplished by identifying sources of funding in collaboration with the Archdiocese and by the hiring of a full-time Director of Religious Education for each Parish in the Cluster that does not have a full-time DRE at the present time.

2) Reach out to marginal Catholics and evangelize the uninitiated and unchurched. This will be accomplished with the establishment of a Parish Evangelization Committee in those parishes that do not have an active evangelization committee. A Cluster-wide Evangelization Committee will also be established. There will be Cluster level training for Evangelizers to do the parish visiting.

3) Make quality Catholic education in parish schools affordable to children of all parishioners, as well as every child whose parents desire it. This will be accomplished by implementing an Archdiocesan marketing plan in each Parish Elementary School and by creating a Cluster Development Committee.

4) Work at the Cluster level to increase stewardship to support the mission of the Church. This will be accomplished with the formation of a Cluster Stewardship Committee composed of a member of each parish. The Committee will investigate what stewardship/tithing programs are working in the cluster parishes.

5) Share the resources to meet common spiritual and social needs. This will be accomplished by identifying representatives from each parish for the goal committee and by surveying present social outreach needs which are not being met at this time. A plan to address these social needs will be developed.

6) Increase ministry to youth and young adults and promote their involvement in parish activities. This will be accomplished by identifying sources of funding for youth ministry in collaboration with the Archdiocese and by hiring three full-time Youth Ministers for the Cluster.

7) Call forward, educate and form lay leadership. This will be accomplished by forming a Cluster Committee with one member from each parish. The Committee will identify and select programs that are available through Archdiocesan offices.

8) Address the allocation of Archdiocesan priests in Cluster 19 in the year 2002. It is possible the current allocation of 14 priests may be reduced by one priest in the year 2002. If that is the case, St. Helena may be reduced by one priest in the year 2002.

9) Address the Canonical status of Holy Angels Parish. It is possible that Holy Angels could be suppressed as a parish and become a chapel of St. Helena's for the Korean Catholic community. Another possibility is that Holy Angels will become a "personal" parish (a parish based on ethnicity) and that English speaking parishioners would register at St. Helena's. A third possibility is that Holy Angels Parish will continue in its present form. The Implementation Committee will continue to dialogue with the Korean Catholic community with the assistance of the Archdiocese and the Vicar. A recommendation will be prepared for Cardinal Bevilacqua concerning the future of the Canonical status of Holy Angels Parish.

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Editor's Note: Attached, please find a background sheet explaining Cluster Pastoral Planning, as well as a summary of the Cluster 19 plan. Media inquiries should be directed to Rev. Msgr. Francis W. Beach at 215-508-4250.

Contact
Donna Crilley
Communications Assistant
215-587-3747