Pittsburgh Diocese Sacrifices Churches to Modernist Pragmatism
The EWTN News portal reports (February 11, 2026) that the “Diocese of Pittsburgh,” led by “Bishop” Mark A. Eckman, will permanently close seven churches on March 12, citing financial strain and declining Mass attendance. The affected parishes—Good Shepherd, Madonna del Castello, Sacred Heart, St. Anselm, St. Colman, St. John Fisher, and St. Jude the Apostle—were consolidated under St. Joseph the Worker Parish in 2020. Eckman claims the closures followed a yearlong “consultation” with clergy and laity, framing the decision as a “season of pruning” for “new life.” St. Maurice Church in Forest Hills will remain the sole worship site.
Financial Expediency Overrides Divine Law
The article admits the closures stem from “persistent declining Mass attendance and ongoing financial constraints.” This rationale exposes the conciliar sect’s surrender to naturalism, reducing the Church’s mission to budgetary arithmetic. Pope Pius XI condemned such materialism in Quas Primas, declaring Christ’s kingship mandates societies “conform to the divine law” (1925). Canon Law (1917) strictly forbade suppressing churches without grave cause (Canon 1185), emphasizing their consecration as loca sacra for eternal worship—not assets to liquidate.
Eckman’s appeal to “better resource your parish” ignores the Church’s supernatural purpose. The Syllabus of Errors (1864) anathematizes the notion that “the Church ought to be separated from the State” (Proposition 55) or that temporal authorities may interfere in ecclesiastical governance (Proposition 42). By prioritizing fiscal “feasibility,” the Pittsburgh sect subordinates the sacred to profane pragmatism, betraying its duty to safeguard the sacramental economy.
Demographic Decline as Fruit of Apostasy
“Declining Mass attendance” is a self-inflicted wound. The post-conciliar revolution replaced the lex orandi with anthropocentric liturgies, breeding indifference. St. Pius X warned in Lamentabili Sane (1907) that Modernist theology “corrupts dogma,” reducing faith to subjective experience. The Novus Ordo Missae—a manufactured rite lacking propitiatory emphasis—accelerated this decay. As attendance dwindled, the sect’s solution—abolishing churches—confirms its apostasy.
The article’s silence on sacramental life is damning. No mention of preserving access to Confession, Eucharistic adoration, or baptisms—only bureaucratic euphemisms like “consultations” and “feedback.” Contrast this with Pope Pius XII’s Mediator Dei (1947): “The Church has no more serious duty than that of preserving the purity of divine worship.”
False Shepherds and the Rhetoric of Betrayal
Eckman’s letter claims closures ensure “corporal and spiritual works of mercy may continue.” This inverts priorities: churches exist primarily for latria (divine worship), not social services. The Catechism of the Council of Trent teaches that neglecting worship incurs divine wrath (Part III, Ch. 1). By invoking the “Resurrection” to justify destruction, Eckman weaponizes sacred language to mask disobedience.
The “consultation” farce mirrors Vatican II’s collegialist heresy. True shepherds govern—they do not pollute the faithful with modernist synods. Pope Pius VI’s Auctorem Fidei (1794) condemned such democratization as “heretical, suspect, scandalous.”
Conclusion: Abandonment of the Flock
These closures epitomize the conciliar sect’s spiritual bankruptcy. When Christ cleansed the Temple (John 2:16), He rebuked those who commercialized sacred space. Today, the sect’s stewards do worse: they erase it. As the true Church endures in catacombs, the counterfeit one demolishes altars—a fitting epitaph for the “abomination of desolation” (Matthew 24:15).
Source:
Diocese of Pittsburgh: 7 churches to close next month (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 11.02.2026