Diocese Receives Vatican Decision on Church Reopening, The Iobserve, February 15, 2011

Diocese Receives Vatican Decision on Church Reopening

The Iobserve
February 15, 2011

http://www.iobserve.org/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=660&cntnt01origid=57&cntnt01returnid=58

SPRINGFIELD – A spokesman for the Springfield Diocese has announced that Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell has received a communication from the Vatican regarding the reopening of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Adams.

In an e-mail sent to local media earlier this afternoon, diocesan spokesman Mark E. Dupont stated, "Upon request from Springfield Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell, the Vatican has electronically transmitted the decisions it has rendered on St. Stanislaus Church in Adams. Bishop has requested a review of the decision by our canonical lawyers. At this time we will reserve formal comment until they have carefully reviewed these matters." (Editor's note: This is a correction from an earlier quote stating that the bishop had received word of a reopening in Chicopee as well.)

An article posted this morning on the website of The Berkshire Eagle, a daily newspaper based in Pittsfield, states that "a decree made public today declares St. Stanislaus Kostka Church must reopen as a place of worship." Berkshire County blogger Dan Valenti, on his Plant Valenti website, also posted an entry today, citing St. Stanislaus parishioner Laurie Haas as the source for his statement that a decree issued by the Vatican both rejects and supports the parish's appeal of its closing.

A number of parishioners has been keeping a 24-hour-a-day vigil at St. Stanislaus Church since it closed in December of 2008 as part of a diocesan-wide pastoral planning initiative implemented in order to meet the needs of the diocese in the face of declining parish membership and a projected decline in the number of priests. The Springfield Diocese includes the four counties of western Massachusetts.

The MassLive website also reported this afternoon that the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy has notified St. Patrick Parish in Chicopee that the decision to close the church has been reversed, and that a similar decision was reached on St. George Church, also in Chicopee.