Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts - Suppression and Closure of Parishes

Suppression and Closure of Parishes

In an online news brief by the Catholic News Service (CNS) that was posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2011:

"The Springfield Diocese has been informed that the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's highest tribunal, has upheld the diocese's decision to suppress and close three parishes.

According to a Nov. 10 press release issued by the diocese, the upholding of the parish closings "is a definitive finding which supports the actions of the diocese, thus removing any possibility for their restoration as parishes."

The three parishes in the western Massachusetts diocese involved in the final ruling are: St. Stanislaus Kostka in Adams, Massachusetts and St. George and St. Patrick in Chicopee, Massachusetts. The decision affirmed merging St. Stanislaus Kostka with Pope John Paul the Great Parish, and St. George and St. Patrick with Holy Name of Jesus.

In the same action, the press release said, the Vatican court indicated the diocese had not yet provided sufficient cause to use the former churches for nonreligious uses, a similar point made by the Vatican Congregation for Clergy in its decision.

But the diocese said the court's secondary finding does not require that these church buildings be reopened, and does not mandate that they be restored as regular worship sites, since the parishes they were assigned to no longer exist. "This action simply means they cannot be actively used for any nonreligious purpose. It allows for no use, or a wide range on other nonworship religious uses," the diocesan news release said.

Future actions by the diocese may include using the clarification now provided by the Apostolic Signatura to issue a decree stating "the need to reduce the status of the church buildings or alternative uses as permitted."..."