Today on the Facebook group SS. Cosmas & Damian Grade School, realtor ‎Paul Mazzochetti posted that the Coptic Church is pursuing the purchase of SS. Cosmas & Damian Church on West 5th Avenue. Mazzochetti states:

Over the next few days, you are going to be hearing that their (sic) is a possible sale of our church to the Christian Coptic Church….it is true! The Coptic Church is very similar in beliefs to our religion…We should consider this the BEST possible solution to the use of our beloved parish. Take consolation in that!!! Although it will no longer be a Catholic worship site, & we can always sit in on services. At least it won’t be knocked down for housing. Fr Heron will be forthcoming with info shortly. It is now in the hands of the Archdiocese.

We have been told over the past year that the sale of the former parishes (St. Gertrude in West Conshohocken and St. Mary and SS Cosmas and Damian in Conshohocken), now worship centers, could not be completed until a year had passed. The closed parishes and Saint Matthew Parish were officially merged on July 1, 2014.

In addition to Mazzochetti’s post, we also messaged with another person we know to have knowledge of this process. This person confirmed what Mazzochetti posted. We will try to confirm with the Archdiocese today.

UPDATE:

Below is text from the July 19th bulletin from Saint Matthew Parish. It provides an update from the parish on the status of the three closed churches and confirms the potential sale of SS. Cosmas & Damian to the Coptic Church.

Property Evaluation and Planning Update
Aside from the financial and building information shared, there are other factors that must be taken into consideration as we make decisions about the future of our parish buildings.

Deterioration of Buildings
St. Matthew parish does not have the money to make necessary capital improvements to all of our properties. The average monthly upkeep (reported last week) is becoming an increasingly serious drain on our resources. The longer the buildings remain empty, the more the buildings will deteriorate. As the buildings deteriorate, so does their value. That loss of value impacts our ability to sell at the best price.

Revenue Generation
Currently, upkeep on SS Cosmas and Damian Church and rectory is costing $2,497.00 monthly. At present, we are pursuing a lease/sale agreement with the Coptic Church. This is now in the hands of the Moderator of the Curia, Msgr. Kutys, who will
present to the Archbishop for a final decision. This agreement entails a shared use of the property until the repurposing of the school building at St. Matthew’s is available for PREP/CCD use.

Research is being conducted for the properties of the Convent, St. Mary’s Church and Rectory.

On July 1, 2015 a letter of relegation was sent to Archbishop Chaput for St. Gertrude Church. This is the first step to the sale of that property. Archbishop Chaput responded July 10, 2015. He has passed the request to Msgr. Mesure who will develop a canonical response for the Archbishop.

Over the next few weeks: Copy of letter sent to Archbishop Chaput, Explanation of Coptic Christian Church, Values Driving Our Decisions, Progress on Repurposing of school building on St. Matthew property.