CLEVELAND (OH)
WRAL
By JAY LINDSAY, Associated Press; THOMAS J. SHEERAN, Associated Press
CLEVELAND — The Vatican has taken the extraordinary step of overruling the closing of 13 parishes by the Cleveland Diocese, a lawyer who fought the cutbacks said Wednesday.
The move represents a rare instance in which Rome has reversed a U.S. bishop on the shutdown of churches.
The Congregation of the Clergy ruled last week that Bishop Richard Lennon had failed to follow procedure in the closings three years ago, attorney Peter Borre said.
The 13 Roman Catholic churches were among 50 shut down or merged by Lennon, who said the eight-county diocese could no longer afford to keep them open because of declining numbers of parishioners and a shortage of priests.
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