Mission

The St. Stephen Protomartyr Project has been created to take custody through lease or conveyance in accordance with canon law of Catholic churches which have been deemed to be no longer needed by the entities which own them (parishes, religious communities, etc.) in cases where no other party is present which could fund their continued care as sacred spaces (NOT relegated to profane but not sordid use.) We raise all of the funds necessary to maintain those churches entrusted to our care, eliminating the need for diocesan or parish funds to be devoted to this purpose. Highlighting the importance of Roman Catholic churches as “sacred spaces,” we also work to inform Catholics of the nature and importance of “sacred space” and why it is escential that Catholic churches be preserved as sacred spaces in accordance with canon law.

Through highlighting alternatives to the permanent closure of Roman Catholic churches, we increase awareness of ways in which they can remain as Roman Catholic sacred spaces even if the parishes they were built to serve are eliminated. By directly intervening to guarantee the maintenance and care of unneeded former parish churches we reduce the overall number of Roman Catholic churches which are permanently closed. We believe that regardless of whether a church is regularly the cite for the celebration of mass and other sacramental activities that it should remain open as defined by canon law, i.e. available for private prayer, devotional activities such as the recitation of the rosary, and as the site for at a minimum the celebration of the two masses per year canon law and the jurisprudence of the Holy See require be celebrated in every church. Given that churches are “sacred spaces” i.e. spaces set apart solely for Catholic worship, we believe it is essential to prevent them from being sold and converted to secular or other uses. When necessary, the St. Stephen Protomartyr Project also brings attention to mistakes and abuses of process which unnecessarily threaten Roman Catholic churches with closure and seeks to correct them.