CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In an extraordinary move, the Vatican has reversed Bishop Richard Lennon's closings of 13 churches in the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, saying the parishes must be restored and the sanctuaries reopened for worship, according to activists who fought the closings.
The diocese could appeal the reversals. (See a copy of the Vatican letter to one of the churches in the document reader below.)
The 13 parishes had filed appeals with the Vatican after Lennon, between 2009 and 2010, closed 50 churches in the eight-county diocese, citing changes in demographics and shortages of priests and cash.
Since the closings, parishioners have been swamping Rome with flurries of letters, arguing that their parishes were vibrant communities wrongfully snuffed out by the diocese. (Sun News report: Lakewood St. James parishioners celebrate Vatican ruling)
Some parishes like St. Patrick in Cleveland's West Park neighborhood hired Boston activist Peter Borre and canon lawyers in Rome to argue on their behalf.
Borre, who regularly traveled to Rome representing Cleveland parishes, said Wednesday that the reversals of Lennon's closings are "unprecedented for Catholic America."
Borre said the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy, the panel that handled the appeals, ruled in favor of the parishioners regarding both closing procedures and canon law.
"This is very significant because it means that Lennon erred procedurally and substantively," Borre said in an email to The Plain Dealer. "If he had been reversed only procedurally, he could re-boot, start the procedure again and fix the procedural error.
"But he cannot fix a substantive error [regarding canon law]."
Borre said Lennon can either comply with the Vatican's decrees or, within 60 days, appeal to the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's supreme court.
The bishop could also stall, saying he doesn't have enough priests or money to reconstitute the parishes, said Borre.
Robert Tayek, a spokesman for the diocese, said the rulings arrived from the Vatican late Wednesday afternoon and had not yet been reviewed by the bishop.
Announcements of the decrees came Wednesday from Borre and Patricia Schulte-Singleton, a member of St. Patrick's and the head of a grassroots group, Endangered Catholics, which has been battling the closings.
Schulte-Singleton said she received a copy of St. Patrick's four-page decree early Wednesday from a canon lawyer in Rome who sent it via email.
She declined to show the ruling to the press on Wednesday, saying it will be disclosed at a news conference on Thursday.
"I can tell you it's spectacular news," she said. "It's a complete reversal of Bishop Lennon's order. Our prayers have been answered. And we want to celebrate first before we make our public statement."
Along with St. Patrick's, other churches that appealed were St. Adalbert, St. Barbara, St. Casimir, St. Emeric, St. Peter and St. Wendelin, all of Cleveland; St. James of Lakewood; St. Margaret Mary of South Euclid; St. Mary of Bedford; and St. John the Baptist, St. Martha and St. Mary, all of Akron.
Bob Kloos, vice president of Endangered Catholics, characterized the reversals as "the most stunning" actions in Catholic American history.
Previous Plain Dealer coverage
- Cleveland Catholics abuzz over investigation of Bishop Richard Lennon (
- Bishop Richard Lennon's Cleveland Catholic Diocese church closings under investigation by Vatican, Italian newspaper reports (
- Two pastors calling on the Vatican to stop Cleveland church closings (
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"It's incredible," he said. "Rome is saying to this bishop and to all the bishops 'you can't close churches just because you don't have the money or the staff.' Budgetary constraints can't be used to suppress parishes."
Kloos, an ex-priest and a member of St. Peter, a community that broke away from the diocese and set up a sanctuary in a warehouse after Lennon closed the downtown church, said it is time for the Catholic hierarchy to think about ways to address the priest shortage, including allowing them to marry.
Sister Christine Schenk, a nun who heads FutureChurch, a liberal group attempting to reform the church, said she was shocked, but pleased, by the Vatican's reversal of the Cleveland closings.
FutureChurch, a national group based in Lakewood, has been working with Borre to battle church closings ever since Lennon began closing parishes in Boston, where he was bishop before coming to Cleveland.
"Our hats are off to all the courageous parishioners who appealed," said Schenk. "This is their victory. Their rights have been vindicated. They said closing our churches wasn't right and the Vatican agreed.
"All the people constitute the church, not just the bishops."
Most of the 50 closed parishes were in inner-city neighborhoods in Cleveland and Akron. Many were ethnic.
More than 50 happy Polish Catholic parishioners held a vigil of thanks Wednesday night outside St. Casimir's Church, on Cleveland's East Side, which closed in 2009.
"We've stood out in the cold for 2 1/2 years every Sunday at 11:30 a.m. since, praying for news like this," said John Niedzialek 53, who has lived in the neighborhood since he was 10. "I don't want to get too excited yet, but it looks like we might be soon standing in warmth inside this beautiful church.
"The news from the Vatican has excited a lot of ethnic people. And how nice this being a feast day week for St. Casimir. Maybe we'll make March 7 a new feast day in Cleveland."
Niedzialek said he believes prayers have been answered because "someone else opened the bishop's heart. . . but I'll be interested to see what he has to say about this."
In broken English, Jesse Sobolewski, 75, said she was very happy her prayers had been answered, adding that she, her husband Andy and daughter Dorothy have prayed faithfully every Sunday for the church to reopen.
Jadwiga Zodda, 52, said her family history is tied up in the church. Her father died shortly after the church was closed, and when she asked the priest to reopen the doors so her father could be honored at the church he attended his whole life, she said the priest couldn't do it because the doors were chained shut.
Also Wednesday night, parishioners at St. Mary in Bedford tied two big white bows on the doors of their closed church in celebration of the Vatican news.
"How amazing is this?" said St. Mary parishioner Carol Szczepanik. "I don't think anyone expected this. There is a God."
Plain Dealer reporter Pat Galbincea contributed to this report.
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pgalbincea@plaind.com, 216-999-5159