Parishioners of Closed Northampton's St. Mary of the Assumption Church Sue City over New Ordinance

By Fred Contrada
The Republican
May 15, 2012

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/05/parishioners_of_closed_northam.html

St. Mary's of the Assumption Church.

NORTHAMPTON -- A group of parishioners from a discontinued Northampton church has filed suit against the city, attempting to invalidate a new ordinance that allows closed churches to be reused for commercial purposes.

The Committee to Preserve St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Inc. maintains that an ordinance passed by the City Council last month did not go through proper procedure and should be reversed. The ordinance cleared the way for some commercial use of churches in residential zones.

St. Mary's was among several Northampton churches that were closed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in 2009 and consolidated into a single parish on King Street. The parishioners at St. Mary's, however, have hired lawyers in Rome to plead their case for reopening the church to the Vatican.

The Vatican has already denied that request, but the committee is appealing the ruling. Meanwhile, some other legal matters related to church closings by the Springfield diocese remain unresolved. The diocese has a suit pending in U.S. District Court against the city of Springfield contesting a City Council decision to declare Our Lady of Hope Church on Armory Street a historic district. The diocese is also appealing a Hampden Superior Court judge's refusal to evict protestors from Mater Dolorosa Church in Holyoke.

The suit, which was filed in Hampshire Superior Court on May 9, states that St. Mary's was not notified of a joint City Council / Planning Board meeting on the ordinance held on March 12 of this year. It also maintains that the meeting was not held with 65 days of the ordinance's referral by the City Council, as required by law.

The plaintiff cites St. Mary's distinctive architecture and history, maintaining that the building as it now stands is protected by its inclusion in the Elm Street Historic District, and should not be altered. The parishioners further claim that the new ordinance infringes upon their religious liberty.

City Solicitor Alan Seewald declined to address specific points in the suit, saying he will do that when he files his response in court. However, he did say that the ordinance does not prohibit St. Mary's from being used as a church, if the Vatican decides to reactivate it.

"Nothing the city has done would prevent the church from being used as a church," he said.

Begun in 1881 and dedicated in 1885, St. Mary's was among the first Catholic churches in Northampton. The altar is made of Italian, Spanish and Tennessee marble and inlaid with alabaster. Built in the days when most parishioners walked to church, it lacks a large parking lot, one of the reasons cited by the diocese for its closure.