Bishop Alphonse Mascherino on Thursday resigned as president of the board of directors for the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel, but later withdrew that resignation.
Father Al — as he is commonly known — was a priest with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown when United Flight 93 crashed in Stonycreek Township on Sept. 11, 2001, as passengers and crew fought to regain the aircraft from terrorists.
The building had gone from being the Mizpah Lutheran Church to an unused seed warehouse.
The building had gone from being the Mizpah Lutheran Church to an unused seed warehouse.
Mascherino, 68, purchased the property in early 2002 with his personal savings and a loan. It was renovated into the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel.
Mascherino is now a bishop in the North American Old Roman Catholic Church.
Two years ago Mascherino was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus, vocal cords and kidneys. His failing health led to his decision to resign.
"My health is not the best," he said at the board meeting. "It is not possible for me to fulfill the functions I need to do, especially to meet the public."
His main concern is to protect the chapel, Mascherino said.
"I want it to remain in perpetuity for the reason it was established," he said. "I was in the hospital right before Christmas and they told me (that) I might not live to be discharged. I was, but every day I'm not sure if I'm going to live another day. I have no time."
He nominated Bruce Miller, current secretary-treasurer, as the new president and Charles Charrie, a board member, as vice president and chief executive officer.
Board members then discussed adding members of the current board of consultants to the board of directors. They said that they wanted that done before voting for new officers.
Mascherino said since it couldn't be decided immediately he was withdrawing his resignation.
Board members then discussed adding members of the current board of consultants to the board of directors. They said that they wanted that done before voting for new officers.
Mascherino said since it couldn't be decided immediately he was withdrawing his resignation.
"I want to make it clear that no one gets paid at the chapel," he said. "Something on the website leads people to believe I am paid $75,000 a year. I'm tired of saying it. We're all volunteers except the electrician and the furnace man."
Board member Annie Snyder said the board knows that Mascherino has devoted 10 years to the chapel.
"No one will love the chapel like you, but we will try," she said.
The other board members are Gary Gorski, Judi Baeckel and Dr. Frank Schmidt. Charrie asked Mascherino to establish for the board some guidelines for the chapel's continued operations.
In 2009, Gorski, a Pittsburgh architect, approached Mascherino about designing a project to move the chapel to a location with more space to allow for expansion.
The chapel would be moved to a new memorial complex, which would include a new museum.
The board is in negotiations with the owner of a property along Route 30. No additional details were released Thursday.
The new entrance to the Flight 93 National Memorial is along Route 30.
"We want to move forward with that property or another," Charrie said. "It will take a lot of people to get there. We need to keep the dream of the chapel alive. The board can control where the chapel goes. We need to involve as many people as we can get — it may take hundreds, each doing a little piece."