PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call
Dan Sheehan
Of The Morning Call
ALLENTOWN — In a little more than 15 years, Our Lady of Mercy Syriac Catholic parish in Allentown has grown from a small mission outpost to a thriving community of 500 families.
Now, the mysterious suspension of the parish’s longtime priest — and the appointment of a priest from a different rite to offer the sacraments — has many of the faithful in the Eastern rite church convinced they are being abandoned by their diocese.
Why?
“That’s the million-dollar question,” said George Makhoul of Neffs, a parishioner at Our Lady of Mercy and one of the leaders of a campaign to restore the suspended priest, the Rev. Bassim Shoni, to ministry. “They’re not giving us answers.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.