November 29, 2024

An article entitled “Final Polka Mass offered at Sacred Heart of Mary on 50th Anniversary of Thanksgiving Tradition” is published on the Catholic Review online. https://catholicreview.org/final-polka-mass-offered-at-sacred-heart-of-mary-on-50th-anniversary-of-the-tradition/

There are errors and omissions in the article:

(1) It notes that the first Polka Mass “overflowed the sanctuary’s capacity of 800 worshipers.”

Fact: the sanctuary of SHM is only 464, a figure noted in “Seek the City to Come” charts. Several paragraphs later, the number of attendees is identified as 244. So the church was 53% full, not 31% full as implied.

(2) The theme vis-à-vis SHM centered on “finality” yet the existence of the flyer indicating the appeal was ignored.

(3) Only one parishioner was quoted, lamenting that, “young people don’t go to church any more [sic].” Hopeful parishioners were not represented in the article at all.