In Forlorn Churches, Pews Fill in a Flash
荒廢的教堂 快閃的會眾
By Michael Paulson

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The glory days of Holy Ghost Church were years ago, when Catholics packed into the wooden pews.
俄亥俄州克里夫蘭的天主教聖靈教堂，已有好些年不曾出現會眾擠滿木製靠背長椅的盛況。

The congregation dwindled so much that in 2009 the church was closed. But on a bright Sunday this summer, Holy Ghost was alive again. Mary Matei, visiting from Knoxville, Tennessee, snapped pictures on her iPhone, while Ann Cogar and Sue Koch, sisters from suburban Cleveland, admired stained glass windows and statuary.
會眾人數縮減得太厲害，以致教堂在2009年關門。但是在今夏某個陽光普照的星期日，聖靈教堂再度人聲鼎沸。來自田納西州諾斯維爾的瑪莉．馬泰用iPhone拍了好幾張照片，來自克里夫蘭市郊的安．庫格與蘇．庫克姊妹則欣賞著教堂的彩繪玻璃和雕像。

They were taking part in a Mass mob, which mixes heritage tour and social occasion. The movement is bringing thousands of suburban Catholics to visit the struggling or closed urban churches of their parents and grandparents. It is also attracting donations.
他們參加的是融合古蹟探訪與社交活動的「彌撒聚眾」。活動將數千名住在市郊的天主教徒帶去他們父母和祖父母上過，如今奄奄一息或已關閉的教堂。活動也帶進捐款。

Named after flash mobs – spontaneous gatherings of crowds, often in a public place, to make an artistic or political statement – Mass mobs are spreading, and taking church leaders by surprise.
彌撒聚眾的名字來自「快閃」，一種通常發生在公共場所，自發性的群眾聚集，其目的是發表某種藝術或政治聲明。彌撒聚眾活動正在擴散中，而且讓教會領袖吃了一驚。

In Detroit, nearly 2,000 people show up to visit churches that normally draw a fraction of that number; hundreds take part in Buffalo, New York; and scores join the events here in Cleveland.
在底特律，近2千人出現在平常僅數百人出席的教堂。在紐約州水牛城有好幾百人參與；克里夫蘭這裡有數十人。

Mass mobs began last November in Buffalo, where Christopher Byrd, 47, was inspired by an initiative called a cash mob, which sought to support local small businesses by having groups of people patronize the same mom-and-pop shop on a particular day.
彌撒聚眾由47歲的克里斯多夫．柏德於去年11月在水牛城發起，啟發他靈感的是一項叫做「快錢族」的活動，一群人在特定日子聚集在個體戶小舖消費，藉此支持在地的小生意。

Similarly, Mass mobs seek to draw large crowds to a single church in a demonstration of support for Catholicism and its most beautiful – and often needy – churches.
與此類似，彌撒聚眾設法吸引一大群人到某個教堂，對天主教及其最美，通常也是最窘迫的教堂，展現支持。

“There’s a generational disconnect between when these cities emptied out and got blighted, and the young people who want to rediscover these roots,” Mr. Byrd said.
柏德說：「這些城市人去樓空，開始破落之後，出現世代的斷層，年輕一代想重新找回這些根源。」

Although most of the parishes visited by Mass mobs are still open, several dioceses have granted permission to hold special worship services at closed churches, including at Holy Ghost in Cleveland, which was built to serve immigrant Catholics from the Carpathian Mountains and is now a Byzantine Catholic cultural center.
雖然彌撒聚眾造訪的教堂大部分仍正常運作，但已有幾個教區允許在已關閉的教堂舉行特別的禮拜儀式，包括克里夫蘭的聖靈教堂。當初為了服務來自喀爾巴阡山的天主教徒移民，興建這座教堂，現在是拜占庭禮天主教文化中心。

“We want to show that these parishes do have value – to the people within them, to the greater community and to the city itself,” said Stanislav Zadnik, 54, a union electrician from Parma, Ohio, who has organized the Cleveland Mass mob movement. “It’s a grand shame to make them go extinct.”
54歲的史丹尼斯拉夫．查德尼克是俄亥俄州帕瑪市的工會電工，負責籌辦克里夫蘭彌撒聚眾。他說：「我們要向教堂的信眾、社區居民，乃至於整座城市展示，這些教堂的確有價值，任它荒廢是很大的遺憾。」

Several dioceses are now helping to promote Mass mobs through their newspapers and social media, and some bishops are openly welcoming the effort, particularly in Detroit, the metropolitan area that has lost the most Catholics since 1950. A side effect is that people often donate during their visit: An organizer of Detroit Mass Mob, Thom Mann, said participants had given nearly $100,000 to the six churches visited thus far.
幾個教區正透過報紙和社群媒體協助推廣彌撒聚眾，有些主教公開表示支持，尤其是底特律，它是自1950年以來天主教徒流失最多的都會區。額外的效果是來訪的人們通常會捐獻。底特律彌撒聚眾的主辦人湯姆．曼恩說，參加者迄今捐出近10萬美元給六座教堂。

The Fairfield County Mass mob campaign in Connecticut is the first in a suburban diocese; organizers note that even in an area known for leafy affluence, there are old, struggling parishes and disconnected Catholics.
康乃狄克州費爾菲爾德郡是第一個出現彌撒聚眾的市郊教區。活動主辦人指出，即使在一個以花木扶疏著稱的區域，仍有奄奄一息的教堂以及沒有往來的天主教徒。

Elizabeth Davis, 47, of Harmony, Pennsylvania, decided to start a Mass mob in Pittsburgh after hearing about the group in Buffalo.
賓州和諧鎮的47歲居民伊麗莎白．戴維斯，聽聞過彌撒聚眾在水牛城的活動後，決定在匹茲堡也辦個彌撒聚眾。

“These beautiful old churches were built by our grandfathers and great-grandfathers, and to see them close is really sad,” said Ms. Davis. “We have 2,000 years of tradition, and it’s time we get excited about it.”
戴維斯說：「這些美麗的老教堂由我們的祖父和曾祖父一輩建造，看到教堂關門真令人悲傷。我們有2千年的傳統，該是振興它的時候了。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/us/at-forlorn-urban-churches-mass-gets-crowded-in-a-flash.html

2014-11-25聯合報/G9版/UNITED DAILY NEWS 張佑生譯 原文參見紐時週報十一版下