By Michael McAuliffe
Republican
January 3, 2010
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/roman_catholic_diocese_of_spri_6.html
SPRINGFIELD – Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell could decide this week whether the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield will file a lawsuit challenging the City Council's decision to turn a church into a historic district.
Mark E. Dupont, public affairs director for the diocese, said the council's unanimous decision Tuesday to create the Our Lady of Hope Historic District is under review. While Dupont said "the most likely course of action ... would seem to be a legal approach," he made it clear McDonnell will have the final word.
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| The Rev. David Joyce J. Joyce, pastor of Our Lady of Hope Church, accepts offertory gifts during the last Mass Friday at the church. The offertory is presented by Maryellen Papianou, of Ludlow, center, and Linda M. Ingalls, of Springfield. The Mass was dedicated to the memory of their grandparents, Lyman and Julie McKenzie of Springfield. Photo by Michael S. Gordon / The Republican |
"A final decision will have to be made by the bishop, and I'm sure that's at least a week off," Dupont said Wednesday.
Thursday began a 20-day appeal period, during which the diocese can seek an injunction to prevent the ordinance creating the district from going into effect.
Before its 8-0 vote to create the district, the council disregarded a request from the diocese's lawyer, John J. Egan of Springfield, to confer with the city Law Department. The council also bypassed the suggestion of City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula to meet in executive session to discuss potential litigation.
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| The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield could decide this week whether to appeal a plan to create an historical district around Our Lady of Hope Church on Armory Street, seen here. Photo by Murray / The Republican |
Dupont said the council vote was a needless rush to judgment "and we're not going to make the same mistake."
Our Lady of Hope Church, located on Armory Street, was built in 1925 by Irish immigrants and is among a number of churches the diocese decided to close because of a dwindling number of priests and Catholics in Western Massachusetts. The final public Mass at the church was celebrated Thursday.
The church was built in the Italian Renaissance style, and its campanile is a landmark in the Liberty Heights neighborhood. The rectory, built decades after the church, is included in the historic district.
Historic district designation means no demolition or changes to the exterior of a building can be made without appealing to the city Historical Commission for a variance. The church exterior includes crosses, 65 stained glass windows with religious scenes, and a stone relief of the Madonna; and Egan said a historic district designation signaled the involvement of government in church affairs.
"There are strong constitutional arguments to be made here," Dupont said in talking about the possibility of litigation.
Nothing is planned for the church at the moment, Egan told the council.
"There are no proposals to do anything with the building at this point in time," he said.
Dupont said the diocese has repeatedly found a reuse for closed churches without demolishing the structures, including selling St. Louis de France in West Springfield and two churches in Agawam to other denominations.
"We don't go right to the market and say, 'OK, who wants this property?'" he said.
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