A group working to preserve the former St. Katharine Drexel church building in Lansford has been given the first opportunity to purchase the structure from the Diocese of Allentown.
“I hope to hear from you in the near future so that we might work out a sales agreement that would be beneficial to your desire to preserve the building and the need to help the parish and the community move forward,” wrote Monsignor David L. James, Diocesan Vicar General, in a letter sent to members of the group.
Recognizing that the building needs cosmetic and structural repairs, the Diocese offered the group the building and land for $50,000.
“As we have said in the past,” Monsignor James wrote, “our desire is to sell the church so that it may be repurposed and maintained.”
Proceeds of the sale would go to St. Joseph Parish in Summit Hill into which the former St. Katharine Drexel was consolidated in 2016. No money from the sale of church buildings, or from the sale of their stained glass windows or other contents, is ever used to fund the cost of the clergy sexual abuse crisis.
