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Lakewood St. James Parishioners Celebrate Vatican Decision to Overturn Church Closing

By Carol Kovach
Plain Dealer
March 8, 2012

http://www.cleveland.com/lakewood/index.ssf/2012/03/lakewood_st_james_parishioners.html

Carol Kovach/Sun News

LAKEWOOD A crowd gathered outside St. James Catholic Church in Lakewood this evening to celebrate news that their beloved church could reopen soon. Excited parishioners hugged each other, saying they waited nearly two years for this decision. The 100-year-old cathedral-like church, still locked as it has been since June 2010, loomed behind them.

Some in the crowd held "Save St. James" signs. The signs popped up on lawns throughout the city after Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon announced more than two years ago that the parish woul be among more than 50 churches closed in a downsizing of the diocese.

The faithful, like Joe Dwyer, a 25-year parishioner, never lost hope that the decision to close St. James would be reversed. He greeted dozens of friends outside the church with hugs and kisses.

Car horns honked and drivers rolled down their windows to shout congratulations to the group gathered near the corner of Granger and Detroit avenues. Some talked about returning later in case television news crews came by for live shots on the late news.

There was even talk of city inspectors possibly coming tomorrow to take a look inside the church.

News that the Vatican overturned the closing of 13 Northeast Ohio churches was released this afternoon by an attorney advocate who worked with churches that were closed in Cleveland and other cities. Endangered Catholics, a group consisting of parishioners from many of the shuttered churches, scheduled a press conference for tomorrow afternoon to discuss the decision, which some called unprecedented.

But at St. James, the crowd felt relief, excitement and joy -- far different emotions than when some of these same people gathered outside the church two years ago with signs urging Lennon to reconsider and save their parish. They came back periodically, including the past two Christmas Eves, to have prayer services on the church steps.

"The people's hearts were pulled here," Dwyer said, noting there was no formal plan to gather today. He said people just started showing up as word of the decision spread.

"It's wonderful. It's what it should be. This church should not have closed. It's important to us and to Lakewood. It's one of the most architecturally significant churches in the diocese," he said, adding, "The people are just happy they can go home again."

 

 

 

 

 




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