CLEVELAND Catholic Diocese Receives Official Decrees from Vatican on Church Appeals
By Michael O'Malley
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The official decrees reversing Bishop Richard Lennon's closings of 13 Catholic parishes finally reached his desk today, the bishop acknowledged in a statement. That means the clock began ticking today on a 60-day period for him to decide whether to appeal. "The process to review these rulings will now be undertaken with my advisors," the bishop wrote in a three-sentence statement posted on the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland's web site. The 13 churches -- out of 50 he closed between 2009 and 2010 in a finance-driven, diocese-wide downsizing -- had appealed to the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy, arguing they were self-sustaining communities that shouldn't be closed. Word got out March 7 that the Congregation ruled in favor of all 13 parishes, saying Lennon did not follow church law and procedures when he shuttered them. The rulings, released by Boston activist Peter Borre who has been fighting church closings nationwide, prompted a blitz of news stories and jubilation by parishioners who organized prayer vigils and rallies outside their padlocked sanctuaries. Lennon remained publicly silent until Monday when he released a statement on the diocese's web site. "I am aware of the interest that these reports have raised within our community," he wrote. "I assure you that as soon as I receive official notification I will share that with the community." As the bishop closed churches, the diocese put them on the market. But under canon law the 13 with appeals pending could not be sold, so the diocese secured the sanctuaries and kept their properties maintained. Borre who works with canon lawyers in Rome, has said that even if Lennon appeals, the Congregation decrees stand in the meantime and Lennon cannot deny parishioners access to their mothballed churches.
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