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	Members Will Fight for Church Don't Shut US Down, Is Plea at St. Casimir By Bronislaus B. Kush Telegram & Gazette June 2, 2008 http://www.telegram.com/article/20080602/NEWS/806020516/1116 WORCESTER— Some members of St. Casimir Church have formally asked Bishop Robert J. McManus to reconsider his decision to close their parish and may take their appeal to the Vatican, if a reprieve by the chancery is not granted. "It's a gorgeous church and the parish is very active," said 92-year-old Anna Leseman, a member of Friends of St. Casimir Parish, a group of parishioners trying to keep the Providence Street church open. "I can't believe the bishop wants to shut us down." The bishop last month announced that St. Casimir, which serves a number of Central Massachusetts residents of Lithuanian descent, and four other churches in Worcester — Holy Name of Jesus, Ascension, St. Margaret Mary and Notre Dame des Canadiens — would close July 1. Diocesan officials said the closings were generally the result of a shortage of active priests and the flight of Catholics from the city to the suburbs. St. Casimir parishioners said that diocesan officials also told them that they were concerned about the parish's future because there had been few baptisms and marriages at the church in the past few years and that there were few programs in place for youth. St. Casimir will continue to hold a Sunday Mass in Lithuanian for about a year and would be available for funerals and other occasional services. The congregation at St. Casimir, along with that of Ascension Church, is to be folded into St. John's Parish on Temple Street. "We're not interested in attending St. John's or any other parish, for that matter," said Barbara Thompson, another Friends member. "St. Casimir's is our home." Members of Friends of St. Casimir wrote a letter May 27 asking Bishop McManus to rethink his decision. The group has also been meeting regularly to discuss ways to keep the parish open. The bishop is scheduled to meet with parishioners following the 10 a.m. Mass next Sunday. "We're hoping the bishop will change his mind, but, if he doesn't, we're looking at canon law to determine how to make an appeal to Rome," said David M. Moulton, the parish's director of music and a committee member. Raymond Jakubauskas, who has been attending St. Casimir since his family immigrated to the United States from Lithuania in 1949, said parishioners don't understand why their church is being closed, since the parish is economically viable and active. Mr. Jakubauskas, whose brother, the Rev. Richard A. Jakubauskas, is the pastor at St. Casimir, said the church owns property on which an old convent once stood at Waverly and Providence streets. He said the parish for many years has rented out the former St. Casimir Elementary School at 22 Waverly St. to the Worcester Public Schools' alternative education program. "That's brought in steady money," Mr. Jakubauskas said. He and other committee members said the parish doesn't have a deficit and that it generously supports various appeals by the diocese, including the annual Partners in Charity campaign. Friends members said the parish has hosted a Boy Scout troop and various social activities, including hot dog roasts, ham and bean suppers and harvest fairs. "We have 315 active parishioners and we want to mobilize them to save this church," said Frank Statkus, chairman of the Friends. Mr. Statkus said Sunday's meeting with the bishop will not be confrontational. "We're not going to tell him he made a mistake and it's not going to be a push-and-shove meeting," he explained. "We're going to be positive and tell him how important St. Casimir's has been to our lives. We're hopeful that, once he hears us, he'll change his course of action." Friends members, however, said that, if the bishop doesn't reconsider, and, if there's a swell of support from the parish, they may take their case to Vatican officials. The first step would be an appeal to the Congregation of Clergy. Peter Borre, a member of the Council of Parishes, a group of Catholics that formed to help parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston that were threatened with "suppression" or closure, warned the Friends at a meeting at Maironis Park in Shrewsbury yesterday that the Congregation of Clergy generally rubberstamps the decisions made by bishops. He said, for example, that 14 Boston area parishes that made appeals were turned down, forcing a further appeal to a Vatican tribunal. Mr. Borre said it would cost $6,300 to $6,500 to hire a canonical lawyer to appeal the case to the Congregation of Clergy, in addition to about $2,000 in court costs. The Friends were advised that an appeal would be drawn out and could take as long as four years to complete. Mr. Borre said church closings are as hot a topic within church hierarchal circles as the clergy-sexual abuse crisis. He estimated that a quarter of the 190 American dioceses are undertaking "significant closing programs." "Don't let them tell you that you're not viable, just because you're small," said Mr. Borre, in urging the Friends to reach out to fellow Lithuanians and other area Catholics for support. "This really is a political campaign," he said. Chancery offices were closed yesterday and diocesan officials could not be reached for comment. Contact: bkush@telegram.com
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