CLEVELAND (OH)
Cleveland Scene
Posted by Erich Burnett on Thu, Mar 15, 2012
It’s been a week since the Vatican rocked local Catholics with news that it had overturned the closing of 13 churches across Northeast Ohio, a response to Bishop Richard Lennon’s recent “Slim Down for the Rapture!” initiative.
But in keeping with its centuries-old tradition of taking forever to do virtually nothing, the Church has yet to get the paperwork into the hands of Lennon, the diocese confirmed Tuesday. Despite widespread celebrations among parishioners from the shuttered parishes, they too are in the dark over their future.
Meanwhile, one closed parish that had already moved on without the bishop’s approval isn’t waiting by the mailbox.
“As we told our community [Sunday], we can’t comment until we see documentation,” says Robert Marrone, pastor of the Community of St. Peter. Since his sanctuary was closed by Lennon in 2010, Marrone has led St. Peter’s congregation — now numbering some 450 — in a building at East 71st and Euclid. These days, he’s calling for cautious jubilance, or maybe none at all.
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