A longtime resident of Indianapolis’ Holy Cross neighborhood is urging city officials to allow the demolition of Holy Cross Catholic Church, arguing that the building is unsafe, beyond repair, and that blocking its removal violates religious freedom.
The push comes as St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, which owns the property, prepares to appeal to the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission Oct. 1 to remove the historic designation that currently blocks demolition, as CatholicVote previously reported.
In a Sept. 30 op-ed for the Indianapolis Star, Gwen O’Connor, who has lived in the area for more than 40 years, said Indiana Landmarks and the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission “overstepped” when they blocked demolition by designating the site as a historic district.
“St. Philip Neri owns the property and has the right to remove the church and sell the land,” she wrote. “It is a form of religious persecution for a secular government to overrule church law.”
According to O’Connor, the groups also made the designation without even entering the church to inspect its condition.
Holy Cross parish merged with St. Philip Neri Catholic Church in 2014. Since then, St. Philip Neri Parish has been responsible for the closed Holy Cross property. Parish leaders argue the city’s move violates their religious freedom, forcing them to maintain a building they no longer use and interfering in internal church decisions.
O’Connor acknowledged that many former parishioners still feel connected to the building, which she described as “a beautiful structure in the heart of the neighborhood.”
But she insisted that restoration is not a realistic option. She pointed to engineering reports describing serious safety concerns, such as rusted anchors and stones being held in place only by friction. Repair costs, she said, are estimated between $7 million and $8 million — an amount she believes no developer would be willing to invest.
She also highlighted the financial strain on St. Philip Neri.
“The city’s decision to meddle in church matters forces St. Philip Neri to continue shouldering the financial burden of the Holy Cross property, costs that totaled nearly 20% of the parish’s annual budget last year,” she wrote.
That, she said, is money that should be directed to repairs on St. Philip Neri’s own historic church building, which is older than Holy Cross and already listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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