A lawsuit over the sale of the former National Shrine of St. Mother Katherine Drexel has ended, but the future of the Bensalem property and development plans remain unclear.
Attorneys for Bensalem developerLen Poncia and the Sister of the Blessed Sacramentnotified the Bucks County Common Pleas Court in late June that a settlement was reached in a 2025 lawsuit over the pending property sale.
The details of the settlement were not made public and the attorney representing Poncia said the terms were confidential, and suggested contacting the order for information about the property.
Neither the attorney representing the order nor Sister Stephanie Henry,president
of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, immediately responded to a Sept. 10 email asking about the settlement.
Poncia, president of Aquinas Realty Partners, and AG Saint Katharine Drexel LP, sued the religious order alleging it breached the contract with him by refusing to complete the proposed sale.
The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, which Drexel founded, picked Poncia to purchase the 44-acre property off Bristol Pike in 2017. The property borders Interstate 95.
But since the parties entered into the original sales agreement, it has been amended and execution extended eight times at Poncia’s request, according to the lawsuit.
The changes included a reduction in the sale price, which dropped from the original $12.5 million to $9 million, according to the lawsuit.
The most recent sale agreement expired in December 2024 before an extension was approved meaning the order no longer was legally obligated to sell to Poncia.
But the developer contended that he and the order were in negotiations and reached a consensus in January on the terms of a new agreement that would extend the sale deadline for one year.
But then the order notified Poncia it was terminating talks, not extending the sale agreement and requested the return of keys to the property, according to the lawsuit.
The future of the Drexel site was long planned. Now what?
The future of the former National Shrine property has been the subject of community curiosity and concern since the order announced its decision to sell it in 2016. As many as 6,000 people a year would visit the shrine when it was open.
Bensalem Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo, who is closely monitoring plans for the site, said on Sept. 9 that all he knows is the religious order has control of the property.
Drexel, a Philadelphia heiress, founded the order and established the motherhouse in Bensalem in 1891. She used her inheritance to serve the Black and Native American communities. Pope John Paul II canonized her as the second American saint in 2000.
Her body was entombed on the property until it was moved to the new shrine in her honor at Cathedral-Basilica of SS Peter and Paul in Philadelphia when the shrine closed.
Poncia promised the township his plans would preserve the former shrine and its historic St. Elizabeth Chapel. A cemetery for Drexel's religious order members also exists on the property.
Aquinas Realty Partners secured necessary zoning and planning approvalsto build an age-restricted community called "AQ St. Katharine Drexel Estates.” The development proposed 90 townhouses, 260 adult rental units and a 300-bed senior living center with assisted and memory-care units, which would use part of the existing motherhouse and preserve the chapel.
Poncia anticipated breaking ground on the project in 2023, but work never started.
The vacant motherhouse and other buildings were boarded up and new security measures installed including cameras and an 8-foot high fence after the property was hit multiple times by vandals seeking copper piping and tubing.
Crime and Courts Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Drexel site lawsuit settled, but what's next in Bensalem | Exclusive
