By Michael O'Malley
cleveland.com
March 12, 2010
http://www.cleveland.com/religion/index.ssf/2010/03/catholic_priest_the_rev_bob_be.html
A Catholic priest who saved his church from closing last year by convincing Bishop Richard Lennon to change his mind, is now publicly challenging the bishop on the closings of other churches.
The Rev. Bob Begin, pastor of St. Colman on Cleveland's West Side, told the bishop in a letter Friday that the ongoing closings of churches in the Cleveland Catholic Diocese are violating the rights of parishioners and may be turning people away from salvation.
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| The Rev. Bob Begin, dressing for a Mass last May, is publicly challenging Bishop Richard Lennon on the church closings. Photo by Gus Chan |
Begin, 71, who has a long history of challenging the church over perceived injustices, sent a copy of the letter to The Plain Dealer, saying he has written similar letters privately to the bishop, but has not received responses. (Read Begin's letter.)
"By this public letter," Begin wrote to Lennon, "I wish to make it clear to the people of our diocese that my own public silence on this matter and that of many other priests is not a silence that has agreed with your decisions.
"It is a silence that was motivated sometimes by a fear of your retaliation, sometimes by an unwillingness to hurt the faith and culture of the church we love and/or by a sense that speaking up would not do any good."
Diocese spokesman Robert Tayek said Friday that he read a copy of the letter, sent electronically to him by Begin. However, Tayek said the bishop had not seen it.
"Father Begin's opinion is just that, one man's opinion," said Tayek. "We are not about to engage in a public debate between the bishop and one of his priests. The bishop's door is always open to his priests."
Begin's four-page letter comes one year after Lennon announced the closings of 52 churches in the eight-county diocese, saying the downsizing is due to shortages of priests, collection-basket cash and congregates. The bishop later reversed himself and allowed St. Colman and St. Ignatius of Antioch to remain open.
So far, about 30 churches have been shuttered. St. Rose in Cleveland is closing Sunday and will merge with Saints Cyril and Methodius in Lakewood.
"The amalgam of what has happened has really been harmful to the salvation of souls," Begin said in an interview Friday. "It's driving people away from God. And if I don't say something, that would be harmful to the salvation of my soul."
Begin called on the bishop to have mediations with angry parishioner groups like Endangered Catholics and Code Purple, which are fighting the closings through protests, vigils and appeals to the Vatican in Rome. Supporters of the now-closed St. Casimir on Cleveland's East Side hold weekly vigils outside the church.
Begin also criticized Lennon for closing a number of churches against the recommendations of cluster committees, which are grassroots groups the diocese convened for advice on the closings.
"The least the bishop could do is to mediate with the people," Begin said in the interview. "He has to do that because he's violating their rights. The first right is the right to exist.
"He has to explain what his compelling reasons are for closing some of these churches. That has not happened. So it appears to be arbitrary."
Begin, whose church was eventually spared by a grassroots effort after Lennon ordered it closed, said he doesn't expect any retaliation from the bishop over his letter.
He said a number of priests are quietly grumbling, especially those in inner city neighborhoods where most of the closed churches are located.
"A lot is being said privately," he said. "Morale is horrible and there's a lot of anger."
He said one reason priests aren't speaking out is because "a lot of them fear public controversy hurts the church. But the church is hurting enough right now, so it's time to do something."
Tayek disagreed that morale among priests is low.
"I don't believe Father Begin was present when the bishop met just recently with more than 230 priests of the diocese," he said. "Father Begin's observations would be best described as purely speculative."
Contact: momalley@plaind.com
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