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Most Reverend John R. Quinn Archbishop of San Francisco 445 Church Street San Francisco, CA 94114 Dear Archbishop Quinn: Please accept this as a request for reconsideration and an appeal of your December 13, 1993 Decree to suppress and close St. Brigid Church. The parishioners and friends of St. Brigid Church respectfully request that you reconsider the decision to close our Church. Attached are petitions and letters from parishioners, friends and active organizations of St. Brigid. We ask that you please associate these letters with Father Kirby Hanson's letter and make them part of this appeal. We have carefully reviewed the Pastoral Planning Commission's criteria for a "viable parish". St. Brigid meets these criteria in all important areas. Consequently, we do not understand the basis for the decision to close the Church. St. Brigid is a parish with 1,250 families, an average weekly church attendance of 1,000, and is financially self-sufficient. Our members are major contributors to the Archdiocese. The sisters and faculty of St. Brigid School sent you a separate letter on December 29, 1993, which eloquently describes the activities of the Church and why the school must have the continued presence of the Parish to function. We concur with and adopt all the statements presented therein. We will not repeat those facts in this letter, except to say that they clearly make the case that this Church is a vibrant house of God which must not be closed. The spiritual and physical needs of our parishioners cannot be adequately provided for at the four alternate churches mentioned in the decree. Many senior parishioners will not be able to walk to these churches. We know that parking at St. Vincent de Paul and Sts. Peter and Paul is nearly impossible. The Cathedral and Old St. Mary's are not located near most of our parishioners. It appears that the reason for the decision to close St. Brigid is based on the estimated cost of meeting Code requirements for seismic upgrading of the Church. Our preliminary review is that the costs will be much less than the estimate we have heard. Given reasonable time, we can put in place a financial plan to fund these costs. The parishioners of St. Brigid are as motivated and energized as any other parish to cooperate, assist and further your pastoral plan. St. Brigid has been functioning for almost a century, yet we have been given barely six months to continue. In fairness, we believe that we should be given reasonable time to meet your needs. If not, then we are concerned that many of us will be so hurt that it will affect our future support of the Archdiocese. We are willing, able and prepared to provide the means to ensure that St. Brigid Church will remain open. If the parish cannot meet these requirements, then we believe that most of us can live with the decision to close St. Brigid. Please give us a chance to meet your needs in order that we may continue to minister to the needs of all of St. Brigid's parishioners.
Sincerely in Christ,
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