Washington D.C., Oct 25, 2016 / 01:35 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A proposal to close the Washington, D.C. metro until noon on Sundays has prompted strong criticism from churches whose members rely on public transportation to attend worship services.
“Opening 2 hours later on Saturday and 5 hours later on Sunday would drastically impact access to numerous events held by local congregations,” warned Terrance Lynch, executive director of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations, a group of some 50 religious congregations throughout the Washington, D.C. area.
In order to allow more time for safety and maintenance of the metro system, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has issued four proposals for new shortened service schedules.
Each proposal would cut back on the current schedule by eight hours per week, allowing time for work to be done on the cars and tracks.
Elements of the proposed changes include closing the metro earlier – either all week long or just on weekends – and opening later on weekends. The fourth proposal would focus all cuts to weekend hours and would include changing the Sunday start time from 7:00 a.m. to noon.
Local churches are warning that this option would severely impede the ability of people with in the D.C. area to attend worship services on Sunday mornings.
Seeking user feedback, the metro system is holding an open house and public hearing on the proposals, and is asking for public comments through 5:00 p.m. October 25 via an online survey and written comments.
In a testimony on the proposed changes, Lynch said that Proposal 4 “would be a step in the wrong direction for those that seek to attend worship services those days – as well as for others seeking to get to work or return home from work, as well as the many other users who utilize it to go about their lives on those days.”
While appreciating the need for safety and on-going Metro maintenance, he stressed that many people in the area rely on the metro to attend worship services on Sunday mornings, particularly the many people in D.C. who do not own cars.
“Indeed, the metro's opening at 7 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays provides support to congregations that despite increased congestion and numerous road closures have chosen to remain within the city,” Lynch said.
“Over the last two decades, many congregations have relocated to the suburbs, often stating in part that the reason is the difficulty to find parking for their members that drive to services,” he continued. “Hence, the current metro operating hours have become a part of the fabric of the lives of local congregations - the expectation being that hours of operation would expand if anything - not shrink.”
The Catholic cathedral for the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. also voiced concern about the proposal.
“So many parishioners take metro to St. Matthew's that our community could not come together without it,” The Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle said in a website announcement, asking parishioners to contact WMATA via Facebook, email, written comments, or survey, and ask that another proposal be considered instead.
WMATA has assured its users that it will work to provide alternate options for transportation during the hours that the metro is closed, regardless of which proposal is adopted. Details of what those options would look like have not been determined.
Article Archive
Proposal to close DC Metro on Sunday mornings draws outcry
Related Articles • More Articles
St. Stanislaus of Szczepanów is depicted as the patron saint of Poland in a miniature painted by Stanislaw Samostrzelnik of Mogila. / Credit: Polona Digital Library|Wikimedia|PD-ArtWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 8, 2024 / 16:53 pm (CNA).Pope Francis during his Wednesday general audience invoked the intercession of St. Stanislaus, patron saint of Poland, for peace in Ukraine and Israel.Addressing Polish pilgrims in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, the pope said: "Today you celebrate the solemnity of St. Stanislaus, bishop and martyr, patron of your homeland.""St. John Paul II wrote of him," Francis went on, "that from high in heaven, he shared in the sufferings and hopes of your nation, sustaining its survival, especially during the Second World War."Francis prayed that the intercession of St. Stanislaus "obtain, even today, the gift of peace in Europe and throughout the world, especially in Ukraine and the Middle East."What does Poland have to do with these wars? This co...
null / Credit: ShutterstockCNA Staff, May 8, 2024 / 17:23 pm (CNA).A trio of Catholic radio networks has filed a petition against the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over new requirements that will soon mandate that all U.S. radio and television stations publish information about the race and gender of their employees.In a 3-2 ruling in February, the commissioners of the FCC reinstated a requirement that radio stations must annually file a document, known as Form 395-B, that lists the race and gender of their employees.The FCC governs radio stations transmitting on AM or FM frequencies, satellite radio and TV stations, cable networks, and broadcast TV stations. These entities are required to maintain a summary of publicly accessible information known as a public file, with varying requirements among the types of stations regarding what must be contained in the file.The FCC had not required Form 395-B since 2004, following a 2001 ruling by t...
Servant of God Nino Baglieri. / Credit: ANS/SalesiansACI Prensa Staff, May 8, 2024 / 17:53 pm (CNA).The diocesan phase of the cause of beatification of the Servant of God Nino Baglieri has been closed in Modica, a town in southern Sicily. Overcoming his bitterness due to his quadriplegic condition, Baglieri gave himself to the mission of evangelizing through the means available to him. The closing of the diocesan phase, according to the Salesian News Agency, took place on Sunday, May 5, in Mother of St. Peter church, where a solemn Eucharist was celebrated by Salvatore Rumeo, the bishop of Noto. In his homily, the prelate related that on May 5, 1951, Baglieri received baptism, "becoming a Christian."Regarding the servant of God, he emphasized that "prayer for Nino was everything: Despite his suffering, like a light that shines and burns, he managed to infect others with the meaning of true prayer."Addressing the servant of God in prayer, Rumeo said: "We are grateful t...