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Rev. Richard Carlino estimates he received 200 voicemails, calls and texts in the first few days after a fire damaged St. Anthony's Church in Schenectady the evening of March 7.

Parishioners and city residents have asked if there's anything they can do; elected officials and diocesan leaders have called to express concern.

Father Carlino, the pastor of St. Anthony's and St. John the Evangelist parishes in the city, called it a "tremendous outpouring of support.

"It's overwhelming [and] so uplifting," he said. "It's wonderful not to feel isolated or alone."

He had been eating dinner with another diocesan priest and one from out of town at his rectory, two blocks away from St. Anthony's, when he got the call that the building was on fire.

"We just flew down there," Father Carlino said. "It was very emotional. You wonder, 'Am I responsible for this?' I wasn't, but it goes through your head."

The blaze, which Father Carlino said drew every firefighter and truck in the city, started in the furnace in the basement. So far, the cause of the furnace problem is unknown. Mayor Gary McCarthy and parishioners responded quickly.

"There were people all over the place," Father Carlino said. "The police had to keep them away."

Firefighters quelled the flames in about two hours, but the sanctuary sustained smoke and water damage that destroyed the sound system, shattered three stained-glass windows and charred fresco paintings above the high altar. Workers also had to cut a large hole in the floor of the church to access the basement from above.

The church hall in the basement "looks like it went through a world war," Father Carlino said. "But fortunately, there was no structural damage and no life lost. My heart is filled with gratitude to God and to pastors" throughout Schenectady and the Albany Diocese for their support.

The fire occurred the day before the fourth anniversary of the death of Father Carlino's mother. When he thinks of how much worse the blaze could have been, he said, "I believe [my mother] was there taking care of us all."

State inspectors were assessing damage to St. Anthony's earlier this week. The chapel, offices, kitchen and meeting room were unscathed and may be usable sooner than the sanctuary, which may take "up to a couple of months" to repair.

St. Anthony's parishioners are invited to attend Masses at St. John the Evangelist, where a Spanish Mass will be added at 1 p.m. for members of St. Anthony's Hispanic Apostolate. All funeral and wedding Masses scheduled to take place at St. Anthony's will occur at St. John's until further notice.

But what the pastor calls the "mother Italian church" of Schenectady will definitely open its doors again in the future: "We shall overcome," Father Carlino said. "We're working toward full restoration."[[In-content Ad]]

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