By Jim Kinney
The Republican
December 24, 2011
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/mater_dolorosa_protesters_dioc.html
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| Mater Dolorosa Church parishioners begin a continuous vigil to keep Holyoke church open. |
Those hoping for a Christmas truce in the battle between the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield and a group of disgruntled Mater Dolorosa parishioners fighting to reopen their church will be disappointed.
Both sides are squabbling over the baby Jesus along with Mary, Joseph, the wise men, shepherds, sheep and camels that make up Mater Dolorosa’s nativity scene.
The diocese says the figures and their model stable rightly belongs to successor parish, Our Lady of the Cross. The folks who have been doing a round-the-clock vigil at Mater Dolorosa since the diocese eliminated the parish in July accuse the diocese of “kidnapping” the statuettes Wednesday afternoon.
The diocese eliminated Mater Dolorosa and Holy Cross parishes June 30 due to declining enrollment and other issues and merged the two into Our Lady of the Cross parish, which worships at the former Holy Cross church.
“They already have their own nativity scene,” said Victor Anop, a longtime Mater Dolorosa member and an attorney representing the dissident group. “We just wanted to put ours up.”
Anop said a Mater Dolorosa member built the stable scene about a decade ago as a gift to the church.
Friday, Anop said he’s already found new statues of the Holy Family and was looking for the animals and wise men before planned Christmas observances at Mater Dolorosa on Friday night.
Protesters have filled the church with traditional poinsettia plants. Members of Anop’s group have been taking turns staying in the church 24 hours a day, seven days a week since July to protest its closure, much to the frustration of church officials who say the building is not safe.
“We are decorating the church better than it has been in the last few years,” he said.
Mark E. Dupont, spokesman for the diocese, said the holiday diorama, like the rest of Mater Dolorosa and its furnishings, belongs to the diocese and the diocese wants it merged with Holy Cross.
“I think it would be an enormous mistake to discount the many more former Mater Dolorosa parishioners who, despite their own sadness at leaving their beloved church this year, have joined in the new parish, working with their fellow parishioners to create a successful Catholic community for future generations,” Dupont said. “Why shouldn’t those folks, who can make the very same claims as the occupiers as to past membership and support, be allowed to enjoy this manger for their Christmas celebration as one reminder of their former parish and church, and past Christmases there?”
The ongoing legal dispute over the future of Mater Dolorosa will have both sides back in Superior Court on Dec. 28.
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