CLEVELAND (OH)
Fox 8
[with video]
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Emboldened by a decree from the Vatican that their church and 12 others in the Diocese of Cleveland should not have been closed, members of St. Patrick’s Parish in West Park gathered on the steps of the church on Saturday night, for an Easter prayer service.
Established in 1848, St. Pat’s is one of the oldest parishes in the Diocese of Cleveland. Members of the congregation were stunned when the current church, built in 1896, was one of 50 closed down by Bishop Richard Lennon, in a re-organization of the Diocese that he called necessary because of difficult finances.
But the St. Pat’s community never gave up hope that they could save their church, even though the Bishop has steadfastly refused to reconsider his decision.
Pat Schulte-Singleton of the Save St. Pat’s Committee, told Fox 8, “We knew when we heard from our Bishop that our doors would be closed, that it was wrong. We knew that our parish was vibrant, we knew that our parish was very important within the community of West Park.”
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