My weekend as an underground Catholic

National Catholic Reporter, Feb 24, 2006 by Angelo Stagnaro

I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I accepted an invitation to something called the "Catholic Underground" in the Bronx and Yonkers, N.Y. I was told about it by the members of the Point5Convenant, a Texan Catholic apologist rap group I met on the New York subway.

I made my way to a particularly depressed and depressing part of the Bronx late one wintry evening. Darkness, both spiritual and physical, had already descended and even though I was a hardened New Yorker, I felt like a stranger in a strange land as I traversed the desperate and dangerous distance between the subway entrance and my ultimate destination.

The depth of poverty there in Mott Haven, Bronx, America's poorest congressional district, was apparent. Crying children are not uncommon in any situation but not when accompanied by equally despondent parents. Men and women slowly made their way pushing dilapidated shopping carts filled with the totality of their worldly possessions. Others slept in the remnants of refrigerator boxes or on cold, dark steps leading nowhere. People shuffled past me wearing clothing inappropriate for the severe chill while others picked through garbage cans seemingly oblivious to the world around them--or maybe they had come to a point where they no longer cared about the stares of others. Everyone around me had the same hollow look in their eyes, the empty look of hunger, desperation and hopelessness. It was shocking to think that within a few miles of my home, people suffered from such deprivation.

I put these thoughts aside temporarily as I turned the corner and spied St. Adelbert Church. I rang and was immediately greeted by Fr. Joseph Deane, the largest Franciscan I'd ever met. He was dressed in no better a set of rags than what I had seen in the past few blocks. The bearded friar introduced himself and my hand was lost in the enormous paw he offered. He exemplified that curious combination of joyful humility and charisma with which St. Francis imbued his community nearly a millennium ago. I felt immediately self-conscious as I realized I was much better dressed.

Fr. Joseph is the superior of the local community of the Franciscans of the Renewal, the community that ministers to this impoverished neighborhood. It was founded by Fr. Benedict Groeschel and seven of his fellow Capuchin friars in 1987 who came together to live a more authentic and austere Christian life as exemplified by St Francis of Assisi.

In the same Franciscan tradition of Sts. James of the Marche, John of Capistrano, Albert of Sarteano and Bernardine of Siena, this tiny community numbers worldwide approximately 100 friars who live their lives of material poverty in community witnessing and preaching Christ's message to the poorest in society. They fight the nearly overpowering tide of loss, depression, paganism, consumerism, secularism and increasingly anti-Christian sentiments--a world silently screaming its desperate struggle against the erosion of Gospel values.

Fr. Joseph took me on a tour of the compound in the middle of an otherwise devastated neighborhood. In 1989, the friars opened up the Padre Pio Shelter, which offers a bed, clothing and meals for 18 homeless men every night. In 1993, the friars took over an abandoned building next to their compound and created St Anthony's Residence, a 65-unit single room occupancy apartment building, housing erstwhile homeless men. Each of the residents came with his own history of mental illness, insufficient education, violence, criminal history and/or substance abuse. Fr. Joseph explained that St Anthony's Residence had been one of the typically burned-out buildings that had previously served the neighborhood as a crack house.

The friars evangelize this out-of-sight-and-out-of-mind part of Christendom in a variety of ways but principally by reminding the materially and spiritually impoverished that Christ loves them and that the church is there to support them. They supply everything these men require, including spiritual and emotional counseling, shelter, food and clothing. The friars offer weekly Bible study, community prayer services, Mass and Holy Hour. They also provide life and employment skills training including classes for the GED, job placement and computer skills. The friars have also established addiction support groups including Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous, run a soup kitchen and a food pantry, and supply clothing to the needy. They offer a day camp for youth, retreats for adults, religious education, pastoral counseling and a free medical clinic. Friars are directly responsible for each ministry to maintain a Catholic and Franciscan character and presence.

Suddenly, Fr. Joseph stopped stock still in the middle of our tour and glanced at a wall clock.

"I got to get to Holy Hour. Would you like to come?"

The Holy Hour was quiet, intimate and powerful. The feelings were intensified because of our location: an island of peace and spirituality in the midst of human suffering, rather than the usual sanitized retreat center stuck out in the country with no one to minister to other than the birds and squirrels. Here in the Bronx, reality is unavoidable.