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	Bishop Turns down Minersville Church's Appeal to Stay Open By Leslie Richardson Republican Herald July 11, 2008 http://www.republicanherald.com/articles/2008/07/11/news/local_news/pr_republican.20080711.a.pg8.pr11stfrancis_s1.1802229_loc.txt MINERSVILLE — Members of St. Francis of Assisi have learned that the bishop is standing behind his decision to close their church, but they intend to appeal again. In a letter dated June 30 and written by the Rev. Monsignor David L. James, vicar for synod implementation, the parishioners read that the Most Rev. Edward P. Cullen, bishop of Allentown "consulted with his advisors concerning the decree he issued May 29 and in accord with their advice, he has decided not to revoke or modify his decree." The restructuring was announced during Masses beginning May 31. St. Francis of Assisi Parish will merge with St. Stanislaus Kostka and St. Barbara Parishes, Minersville, and St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish, Branchdale to become St. Matthew Parish at the former St. Stanislaus Kostka Church building in Minersville. In a decree included with the June letter, the bishop said the petition sent June 9 by Fred and Marie Lutkus on behalf of the church's sodality members does not prove that the process used in merging parishes was canonically flawed and that it did not provide a practical solution to the declining number of priests available for parish ministry. Cullen also said that the petition does not provide for the overall good of the Diocese of Allentown. Marie Lutkus said the denial did not address any of the points expressed in the St. Francis appeal, especially the fact that the parish did not have the representation of a parish priest at the Deanery Region meetings since their priest, the Rev. David C. Liebner, was reassigned as assistant pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Church, Orefield. Lutkus said St. Francis and St. Barbara churches were without a pastor from November 2007 until May 11, 2008, when Liebner came to say goodbye after being reassigned. James stated in the letter that the parishioners have the right under canon law to appeal to the next higher authority, the Sacred Congregation of Clergy, whose responsibilities include reviewing recourse against suppression of a parish. Members of St. Francis of Assisi have 15 days to file the petition to the Sacred Congregation of Clergy and, once received, the body has 90 days to respond unless it gives notice that it will prolong the period required for a response. According to Matthew Kerr, director of public relations for the diocese, the church will close as scheduled but the building cannot be sold while under appeal. "The contents cannot be sold but they can be moved to the new parish in Minersville," Kerr said. "If the church would win the appeal and would reopen, the contents, if relocated, would be brought back." Church members say they will appeal to the next level. In April 2007, the Diocese of Allentown released a timeline for planning consolidations and making recommendations to the bishop. One of the points in the recommendations was that each pastor in the diocese would be assigned to only one parish. Given the number of priests assigned to the county, it would mean 36 parishes in the county would close and each parish would have about 1,800 parishioners by 2009.
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