By David Yonke
Toledo Blade
November 18, 2007
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?&Dato=20071118&Kategori=NEWS10&Lopenr=71118003&Ref=AR
JUNCTION, Ohio — Members of a closed Catholic parish, who twice chased away workers hired to remove the church's historic stained-glass windows, have gone to court to bar the Toledo diocese from removing items from the church.
A motion for an injunction and a temporary restraining order was filed Friday afternoon by Janet Sholl, a former parishioner of St. Mary's Catholic Church, against the Toledo diocese and Bishop Leonard Blair.
The documents ask Paulding County Common Pleas Court to bar the Toledo diocese and Bishop Blair "from removing any fixtures, windows, or building components" from the church property.
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| A former St. Mary’s Catholic Church parishioner has requested a temporary restraining order to keep the Toledo diocese from removing the church’s 27 historic stained-glass windows. Photo by Lori King |
"It's more or less a question of who owns the church — is it the diocese or is it the parishioners?" said Ms. Sholl, a member of St. Mary's since 1962.
The parish, about 70 miles southwest of Toledo, was first scheduled to be closed in July, 2005, but Bishop Blair agreed to keep it open as a chapel. That designation ended in July, when the bishop ordered the chapel closed.
The parish was founded in 1846 and the cornerstone for the current building was laid in 1907. The church has 27 stained-glass windows featuring Bible scenes, some of them as large as 6 feet wide by 15 feet tall.
On Oct. 17, workers from Klimo Inc., a construction firm based in the Cleveland suburb of Columbia Station, Ohio, drove 160 miles to Junction for the task of removing some or all of the 27 stained-glass windows and other sacred objects in the closed church.
But Ginny Hull, who has been leading a fight to save the closed St. James Parish in Kansas, Ohio, hurried to Junction and rallied St. Mary's parishioners to block the doors and keep the workers out.
A diocese spokesman said the crew, which returned to Columbia Station empty-handed, had been hired to remove the windows and other sacred items, put them in crates, and place them in storage for future use.
The workers again showed up at St. Mary's Tuesday morning with a van and a trailer, but the parish's ex-members turned out in force and the workers left.
Sally Oberski, a spokesman for the Toledo diocese, said the workers were there to clean up water in the basement. But several ex-parishioners said the crew had set up scaffolding around some windows and had taken the Stations of the Cross plaques off the wall.
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Sue Brown, another ex-parishioner at St. Mary's, said the workers told her they would not come back to Junction again "until they have some money."
Ms. Sholl said the ex-parishioners felt fortunate that the crew left without the stained glass, but wanted to have legal authority behind them for the next time the situation arose.
"Legally, there was nothing in hand to prevent them from taking the windows," she said.
The diocese has reduced the number of parishes from 157 in 2005 to 131 today, citing the growing priest shortage and changing demographics. It has issued several statements saying that the diocesan leadership "continues to pray for all those who experience parish closings, and encourages those parishioners to make the journey to a new parish community and find comfort through their faith and prayer."
Ms. Brown said the closure of her church and the controversy that has followed have put her on an emotional roller coaster.
"This is just getting overwhelming," she said, stifling tears. "We're all so hesitant here. This is all so new to us. You look down the road and you know you can't fight them [the diocese]. But you can't just sit back and let it happen. It's just crazy. Worse than crazy. It turns my stomach to go into a Catholic church. You can't imagine what kind of turmoil that puts you in."
St. Mary's ex-members held a prayer vigil outside the church on Wednesday night, and Ms. Sholl said they are seeking divine intervention.
"Sometimes you just have to trust in the Lord," she said. "This just has got to be in God's hands."
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