Priest Will Address Parish Dissent

By Shelley Terry
The Star-Beacon
June 7, 2013

http://starbeacon.com/local/x697474224/Priest-will-address-parish-dissent

The Rev. Raymond Thomas says he’s not ignoring the talk and turmoil in the Catholic community caused by Sunday’s advertisement in the Star Beacon.

He will address the issues during this weekend’s homily, he said.

Thomas would not elaborate.

The anonymous, full-page, paid advertisement disagreed with the future plans of Our Lady of Peace Parish — all a result of the merger of the city’s Catholic churches and a mission.

The ad, directed to the parishioners of Our Lady of Peace Parish, from “concerned Our Lady of Peace Parishioners, read (among other things), “You will be asked to pay for renovating the former Mt. Carmel School building into parish offices at a cost of $1.3 million. There is already a school building used for parish offices. Why move?”

The ad made eight additional points, including:

* Objections to selling the Mother of Sorrows school building without consultation of the parish at large, and that there’s “a bid to buy one of the churches” when the parishioners were told that churches would not be closed at this time;

* Objections to remodeling the rectory kitchen when the building is relatively new, and

* Objections to expanding Mt. Carmel worship site when there already exists a very large church that doesn’t need expansion.

Thomas said it’s been his goal to keep the lines of communication open.

“But obviously, some people are unhappy,” he said, noting he will address the congregation during his homily on Saturday and Sunday.

Bishop George V. Murry from the Diocese of Youngstown, which oversees the Catholic churches in Ashtabula County, would not comment on the situation. On Wednesday, his office directed all questions back to Thomas.

Two years ago, the Diocese announced the merger of the three parishes and mission in Ashtabula.

Today, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, along with Mother of Sorrows and St. Joseph, are part of Our Lady of Peace Parish, but no one knows which churches and/or buildings will be closed when the merger is finalized.

Mt. Carmel is the newest church building and is handicap accessible, parishioners said.

The Our Lady of Peace Parish is served by Thomas, as well as the Rev. Ernesto Rodriguez, who serves as a parochial vicar, and a ministerial team.

Contact: sterry@starbeacon.com