Former congregation in Bloomfield fighting to save historic church grounds
Pittsburgh has long had a deep history of celebrating Holy Week in its Catholic churches, but this week hits particularly hard for one former congregation in Bloomfield.
Immaculate Conception Church and school closed in May 2022. That closing came after a back-and-forth with the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh and the Pope and the Vatican. The church lost all fights, but now there is a new one. Church officials are fighting for their building, which they consider a historical staple of the Bloomfield community and its Italian heritage.
KDKA spoke to Rita Turpin-Porterfield, one of many community members fighting to save the church.
"This is Bloomfield," Turpin-Porterfield said. "This is that location. This is the pinpoint. It centers us as a community, as a meeting space, and it brings all corners of the neighborhood together."
The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has listed the church complex for $3.5 million. Turnpin-Porterfield and other members of the community worry the church will be torn down and replaced with something like apartments.
"It's meant so much for decades," she said. "There's a lot of anger, mostly because there hasn't been honesty or forthrightness or open communication."
Joe Posteraro is the owner of Angelo's Pizzeria. He and his family attended that church, as did many members of the business community there.
"There's a lot of history with those of us that few up here. We went to school here. We don't want to see it ripped down. I know the church is not gonna be there anymore, but something like a community center, which would be awesome."
Turpin-Porterfield said an Italian day care and preschool offered $3 million of the $3.5 million to the diocese. She says the day care would keep the site intact. She said the diocese rejected the offer. KDKA reached out to the diocese on Wednesday but did not hear back.
"It does feel particularly spiteful that the Italian church could be lost when we know there are Italian community-focused buyers involved," Turpin-Porterfield said.
