St. George Church Preservation Society News & Archives

A quote from P F Gallagher, builder of St. George Church, shared by Kathy Gallagher: “...the history of civilization has been written by the Builder. The truest evidence of the greatness of people of the past is found in the remains of their buildings.” Thursday, August 27, 2020 on the steps of St. George Church NEWS CONFERENCE ON THE STEPS OF ST. GEORGE CHURCH ON AUGUST 27, 2020 On Thursday morning, parishioners and supporters of the St. George Church Preservation Society gathered on the steps of St. George Church to hold a news conference. The event was well attended by people from the neighborhood, parishioners, alumni and the media. SGCPS had masks and hand-sanitizer available and everyone practiced social distancing. The event was covered by the South Pittsburgh Reporter, the Post-Gazette, KDKA & WTAE television. Bob Kress, Class of 66, summarized the status of the proposals that have been made to Bishop Zubik regarding the offers to care for and restore the beloved church  at

News Conference on the steps of St. George Church (St. John Vianney) 225 Allen St. Pittsburgh, PA 15210 at 11:00am on Thursday, August 27, 2020 Dear St. George Family: We invite you to please join us in Allentown as we gather to express our support for the preservation of St. George Church and express our outrage at being betrayed by Bishop Zubik as he recently ordered his workers to start to dismantle our beloved church. The community will join with parishioners, preservationists and the St. George Church Preservation Society (SGCPS) to hear an update of recent developments regarding this historic church and present their demands. In recent weeks, Bishop Zubik has chosen to disrespect and betray this community, our parishioners and the Vatican court as he has ordered his workers to begin to dismantle our church. The workers have removed artifacts and have prepared to remove the stained-glass windows from the church. Under canon law, parishioners share in the patrimony of the church. B

While we are waiting for a final decision on our Vatican appeal, Bishop Zubik has decided to remove sacred and irreplaceable items from our church. There is a widely held belief among professionals that an appeal before the Vatican should prevent something like this from happening. Usually, out of respect for the process, churches are left intact during an appeal in case the Vatican rules in favor of the parishioners. This is what has happened in other dioceses, but sadly, is not the case here in Pittsburgh. This has happened even though parishioners and the St. George Church Preservation Society have repeatedly made viable proposals to care for and restore the church  at no cost to the Diocese. We continue to pray that the Vatican will rule in favor of our parishioners. In that case we would be entitled to have mass there and items taken away from our church would need to be returned. We have notified our canon lawyers here and in Rome. They have expressed their shock and disappointme