Vatican Denies Local Parishes' Appeals, by Scott O'Connell, Metrowest Daily News, May 18, 2010

Vatican Denies Local Parishes' Appeals

By Scott O'Connell
Metrowest Daily News
May 18, 2010

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/features/x150484807/Vatican-denies-local-parishes-appeals

The Vatican's Apostolic Signatura has denied the appeals of 10 Boston area parishes, including St. Jeremiah in Framingham, St. James the Great in Wellesley, St. Anselm in Sudbury and Sacred Heart in Natick.

The parishes were among those ordered closed under the archdiocese's reconfiguration plan in 2004.

The Council of Parishes, which was formed that year to support the closed parishes, yesterday announced the Vatican's ruling had been reported by Carlo Gullo, a canon lawyer who represented many of the parishes' petitions to the Signatura.

John Olszewski was on vigil duty inside St. Jeremiah Church as media descended on the church after the Vatican denied its appeal to remain open.

The Apostolic Signatura, composed of cardinals and archbishops, is the final court of appeal in the Roman Catholic church.

The decision leaves parishioners with no other recourse within the church, said Peter Borre, leader of the Council of Parishes.

Even so, Borre said the group is undeterred, and that the vigils would continue.

The council is also considering filing a federal lawsuit, he said.

"We may have struck out in the canon law, but there's still the parallel universe of civil law," Borre said.

Suing the Vatican is "not as crazy as one may have thought four years ago," he added.

This year federal appeals courts have allowed sexual abuse suits in several states to proceed against the Vatican, which was once immune to such action, Borre said.

In a statement yesterday, the Boston Archdiocese declined to comment on the Signatura's ruling.

"The normal process for receiving formal word from the Vatican on matters related to the parish closings is in writing to all the parties involved," the statement said. "Until such time as we receive a formal decision from Rome, we will defer comment."

The Vatican ruling was criticized by several members of the shuttered parishes.

"The Catholic church and the Signatura know they are not acting in compliance" with Pope John XXIII's position that viable parishes should not be closed, said Paul Hughes, a member of St. James in Wellesley.

Hughes, an attorney who wrote St. James' initial appeal, said he wanted to read the Vatican tribunal's decision as translated, before speculating on the next chapter for the Rte. 9 church, which has been in vigil for more than five years.

St. James the Great was closed and church members have been in vigil since fall 2004.

Sacred Heart Church was also deemed a suppressed parish and closed on Christmas 2004, over the protests of parishioners.

Mary Beth Carmody, co-chairwoman of the St. Jeremiah Appeal Committee, met with church members yesterday afternoon to discuss the ruling. Several people gathered at the church around 1 p.m. to take part in that meeting.

St. Jeremiah, which marked its fifth year of vigil this month, has been functioning as a parish but is not officially recognized as such. Services are led by the Rev. Kuriakose Vadana of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church established at the Brook Street site.

Several parishioners yesterday said the Signatura's decision, which they had found out about through the news, came as no surprise.

"The Vatican is so remote from the local parishes, you wonder if there's any connection," said John Olszewski, who was keeping vigil for the afternoon.

The mood inside St. Jeremiah was downcast, however, as church members consoled each other.

"It's so sad, but what can you do," said Jean Antonio, embracing another parishioner. "It's in God's hands."

"We're heartbroken," added Muriel Merchant. "There was a smidgen of hope - there's always that little bit that says it might happen."

Merchant and other St. Jeremiah members said the ruling would not end their vigil.

"As far as I know, we'll probably just stay right here," said Merchant.

St. Anselm was among the closed churches whose members participated in round-the-clock vigils to keep from being locked out. The archdiocese eventually opted in 2003 to make the Sudbury church a rectorate, and though it functions as a parish and has its own priest, it is not recognized as a parish.

"The decision was not unexpected," Cynthia Deysher, former chairwoman of the Parish Council, said yesterday. "It would have established us as a parish."

In 2005, the church filed an appeal with the Vatican to be reopened.

"That appeal remained active until this decision came down," said Deysher, who is also St. Anselm's business manager. "The cardinal had assured us that we would remain a rectorate even if the appeal was denied. We are satisfied with the status of a rectorate. It's actually a benefit. Parishioners don't need to live within a certain geographic area."

For other parishioners, the ruling is a sign that they must remain faithful, however.

"I've said from the beginning, the only way this church could be saved is through a miracle," said St. Jeremiah member Aurello Antonio, Jean's husband. "That's what's going to save it - the rosary. There's no other way."