Latest news with #AllentownCatholicDiocese
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Diocese launches recovery fund to rebuild chapel in Mahanoy City
MAHANOY CITY — The damage can be repaired, but the shock wave triggered by the May 6 detonation of an explosive device by an intruder could have a lasting impact on the Solemn Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. After being open to worshippers around the clock for 43 years, access will be limited after the estimated $27,000 in damage is repaired and the chapel reopens. After dark, a security code or special access card will be required to gain entrance. 'I hate to do it,' confided Rev. Kevin Gallagher, 'but I had to take that extra step given what happened.' What happened was that an explosive device — possibly an M-80 or larger — was detonated at 9:02 p.m. on May 6 in the chapel next to St. Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Church. Placed on the altar, the device burned the altar cloth, shattered glass candleholders and scorched the monstrance, the ornate receptacle that contains the consecrated host. The shock wave was powerful enough to damage three stained glass windows and puncturing a hole in the aura of the Blessed Virgin Mary in one. The stained glass windows, transplanted from the former Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Mahanoy City, have to be removed for repair by a Pittsburgh company. Damage from the blast is estimated at $27,000, not including cleanup costs, Gallagher said. 'There's smoke and residue over everything,' said Gallagher, Teresa of Calcutta pastor. The Allentown Catholic Diocese has launched a St. Teresa Recovery Fund to assist the parish in repairing the damage. So far, the fund has raised $8,250, the Allentown Diocese reports. Donations can be made at Suspect in custody Kyle Kuczynski, 32, remains in Schuylkill County Prison, facing charges in connection with the chapel explosion. He has been charged with felony arson, reckless burning or exploding, possessing explosive or incendiary material, risking a catastrophe and related charges. His preliminary hearing is 10:30 a.m. June 19 in Magisterial District Judge Anthony Kilker's office, Shenandoah. Photographs from the chapel's security system show a person wearing a black hoodie leaving the chapel on May 6. In his hand is a black device, resembling an explosive, with a fuse at one end. Police have not released details about the device. Rev. Kevin Gallagher looks at the broken stained glass windows within the adoration chapel at Saint Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Church in Mahanoy City, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) The manufacture, sale, possession and use of M-80 explosive devices is illegal under federal and Pennsylvania law, according to the Crime Watch Pennsylvania website. Considered highly explosive devices, they contain ingredients capable of injuring or killing people. In the chapel Miraculously, a statue of the church's patron saint, Mother Teresa, holding baby Jesus was not damaged by the blast, though it was only a few feet away. A stained glass window depicting the Nativity wasn't as fortunate. Holes in a stained glass window were caused by a May 6 explosion in the adoration chapel at Saint Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Church in Mahanoy City, pictured Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) The concussion from the ignition, perhaps an arm's-length away, blew holes in the window. A statue of St. Teresa of Calcutta inside the adoration chapel at Saint Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Church in Mahanoy City, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) A statue of the Blessed Mother nearby was damaged and has been sent to an artist in Mountain Top for reconditioning. The monstrance, held sacred by Catholics, has been sent to the St. Jude Shop in Philadelphia for repairs. 'The blast blew open the luna, a door at the rear through which the host is placed, and the Holy Sacrament was tossed out,' Gallagher said. The monstrance was donated by Joanne Bobbin, in memory of her family, he said. She's in her 80s, and still helps out at the church. On a recent visit to the chapel, Gallagher reflected on how it touches the lives of church members. When the churches consolidated, he was certain to relocate items from Polish, Slovak and other churches that we closing into what was formerly St. Joseph's, a Lithuanian church. It was his way of preserving some of their heritage. The 11 stained glass windows in the chapel were from Sacred Heart, an Italian parish. 'Many of the items in the chapel are of a personal nature to our parishioners,' Gallagher said. 'They're very important to them, and we want to restore them.'
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Lynn Sabol leaves an indelible mark
POTTSVILLE — Walking down the hallway Tuesday morning at Nativity BVM Catholic High School, Lynn Sabol stopped and chatted with students at their lockers during change of classes. The ease with which she interacted with students, in a sense, was a mark of Sabol's 15-year tenure as the school's principal. (left to right) Students Madeline Daynorowicz, Mia Michalik and Chloe Covell stand with Nativity BVM High School principal Lynn Sabol at Nativity, Tuesday, March 4, 2025.(MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) Sabol is as comfortable talking with students and teaching calculus as she is with balancing the budget and raising funds to keep the doors open atop Lawton's Hill. The educator recently announced her plans to retire, effective Aug. 31. She will stay on over the summer months to familiarize her successor with the school's operation. A search committee, including school trustees and a representative of the diocese, will conduct interviews and recommend a successor. Nativity BVM High School principal Lynn Sabol talks to students in the classroom at Nativity, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) The final decision on a replacement lies with Bishop Alfred A. Schlert, who heads the Allentown Catholic Diocese. After 45 years in Catholic education, Sabol is looking to slow down a bit to spend time with family and travel. She is sad about leaving Nativity, but is looking forward to less stress and having more time to spend with her daughter, Stephanie, in Rhode Island. Sabol, 66, hopes to be able to continue teaching part-time at Nativity. She teaches pre-calculus and advanced algebra in addition to her duties as principal. Nativity BVM High School principal Lynn Sabol discusses retiring from her position Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) A 1976 Nativity graduate, Sabol earned a degree in mathematics from Penn State-Harrisburg campus in 1980. She has done graduate work at Alvernia University, Wilkes University and DeSales University. After teaching first grade at St. Jerome's parochial school in Tamaqua for two years after graduating from Penn State, Sabol has spent 43 years as a teacher, administrator and principal at Nativity. During an informal chat Tuesday, she talked about what she hopes she leaves behind. 'I hope I have set a standard of excellence,' she said, 'and have continued the tradition of education based on the Catholic faith.' When she was named principal, all aspects of Nativity's operation were being reviewed by the diocese's department of education. By all accounts, Nativity has survived the review. The school's enrollment remains around 200. Tuition is $7,800 a year. Nativity BVM High School principal Lynn Sabol looks in a trophy case at Nativity, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) Sabol has strived to keep the school's curriculum relevant to the times, developing courses on advanced science, math and artificial intelligence computer applications. At the same time, she says, administrators are aware of the need for vocational education. 'We're designing our curriculum to meet the needs of the students,' she says. Sabol is particularly proud that, with the help of staff and families, Nativity remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic. 'This school runs because everyone works together — administrators, teachers and families,' she said. 'It takes a village, so to speak, because in Catholic education you have to do everything.' Sabol's roots at Nativity go well beyond her tenure as an educator. Her mother, Elizabeth Lechleitner, was in the school's first graduating class in 1956. She met her husband of 40 years, Dave Sabol, when he taught math and was athletic director at Nativity. And her seven siblings and two children all graduated from Catholic schools. Jennifer Daubert, assistant to the principal and development director, described Sabol as the rock Nativity is built upon. 'I'm happy she'll be able to retire,' Daubert said, 'after all the time, blood, sweat and tears she spent to make Catholic education a reality for so many students.' Sabol leaves an indelible mark, Daubert said, on so many people as she retires. 'She has made us all better,' said Daubert, who has been at Nativity for 25 years. Visiting a class taught by Michael Grabowski, assistant principal, Sabol recounted the bittersweet day on which she informed the student body of her retirement. Perhaps reflective of the demands of her position, she had to deal with a water main break at the school on the same day she announced her retirement. Passionate about music, Sabol takes solace in the time she spends playing piano during Mass with the students and staff at Nativity. On Ash Wednesday, she will be at the piano during Mass in the school auditorium.
