St. Ann asks Vatican investigate Chaput; ‘He’s gone too far’

PENNSYLVANIA
Bucks County Courier Times

Wed Jul 30, 2014.

By GEMA MARIA DUARTE Staff writer

St. Ann parishioners in Bristol have asked the Vatican to investigate the stewardship of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on the recommendation of a consultant hired to appeal the closing of the parish.

St. Ann is one of five Bucks County churches closed in June and merged into nearby churches this month.

The parishioners are appealing the closure of their church too. They hired Boston-based consultant Peter Borre and two lawyers based in Italy who are familiar with canon law to handle that appeal. Borre recommended they also ask the Congregation for the Bishops, the senior personnel department of the Vatican, to look into how Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput is overseeing the diocese.

“We are asking for a formal investigation of Archbishop Chaput’s stewardship of the archdiocese because we contend that the cure is becoming worse than the disease,” he said.

The request and the church closure appeal were included in 48 pages of documents sent to Rome this month.

It is unfortunate that “rapidly spreading dysfunction,” as Chaput’s critics call it, is spreading through the archdiocese as Philadelphia prepares for the World Meeting of Families in September 2015, the investigation request states.

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