Vatican: Lorain Church Can Retain Name

By Brad Dicken
The Chronicle-Telegram
March 17, 2012

http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2012/03/17/vatican-lorain-church-can-retain-name/

The former St. Mary Church has won its appeal of a decision by the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland to merge the church with the now-shuttered Holy Trinity Church.

St. Mary and Holy Trinity parishes officially were closed in 2009 and merged into the new Mary, Mother of God Parish, which congregates at the former St. Mary location.

The decision to merge the parishes was part of an effort by Bishop Richard Lennon to streamline the diocese. That led to opposition by Roman Catholics in the eight-county area served by the diocese and several parishes that were closed appealed to the Vatican, which has overturned more than a dozen of the 50 closures or mergers imposed by Lennon.

The bishop has two months to decide whether to appeal the reversals to Rome.

Joan Reidy, a St. Mary parishioner who worked on the church’s appeal, said if the reversal stands, it would allow the former St. Mary Parish to reform, effectively shutting down Mary, Mother of God.

But she also said that it would likely have little effect on parishoners.

“Really a parish is not a building, it’s people,” she said.

Holy Trinity didn’t appeal its closure and wouldn’t be affected, but Reidy said the reversal would mean that the old Holy Trinity church building would revert back to Diocese control. Currently, Mary, Mother of God is responsible for maintenance on the building, which is for sale, she said.

The official decree from the Congregation of the Clergy reversing the St. Mary closure stated that Lennon violated procedural rules when he closed the parish.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com