New Kensington police shooting prompts churches to change service locations

Two New Kensington churches are changing the locations of some services in the wake of an incident where city police officers were shot at near one of the churches.

The changes affect St. Joseph and St. Mary of Czestochowa.

It also affects the Community Clothes Closet run by Mount St. Peter in the former St. Joseph school building. The three parishes are separate but work together, said Monsignor Michael Begolly of Mount St. Peter.

Undercover police officers in a surveillance vehicle were shot at Tuesday night in the 1200 block of Kenneth Avenue, near St. Joseph.

New Kensington police Chief Bob Deringer could not be reached for comment Friday. The department referred questions to the Westmoreland County Detective Bureau, which did not respond to a request for comment.

Begolly did not reference the shooting in a notice about the changes, which he said are being made “out of a sense of safety for our parishioners and volunteers” during the dark of winter.

“I didn’t want to make more of it than it was,” he said.

Begolly said no members of either parish had voiced concerns related to the shooting, and that he made the decision “before any concerns would be voiced.”

The changes take effect next week, Begolly said.

The changes are:

• The Wednesday evening Mass has been moved from St. Joseph to St. Mary. Times are unchanged, with confessions starting at 5:45 p.m. and Mass beginning at 6:15 p.m.

• The noon Mass on Friday has been moved from St. Mary to St. Joseph. It will be preceded by a “Holy Hour for an End to Violence in our Streets” at 11 a.m., and confessions from 11:15 to 11:45 a.m.

• Wednesday evening hours at The Community Clothes Closet, at Kenneth and Locust, are temporarily suspended. The closet had been open from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays; Begolly said he does not know when those hours will resume.

The closet will continue to be open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays, noon to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.

Begolly said they would like the closet to be open five days a week, but more volunteers are needed.

Begolly said it has not been decided when the service locations would be changed back. If turnout is good, the changes could be made permanent, he said.

St. Joseph has 632 families in its parish; St. Mary’s has 537, Begolly said.