Church Closings

February 7, 2009

Bishop: New group not part of diocese

‘Council of Parishes of the Diocese of Scranton’ held first meeting Thursday.

By Mark Guydish mguydish@timesleader.com
Education Reporter
Mark Guydish on Facebook   |   @TLMarkGuydish on Twitter

SCRANTON – Insisting the decision about which churches to close “was arrived at only after much study, reflection and prayer,” the Diocese of Scranton issued a statement Friday making it clear a new group formed to fight some of the closures “has absolutely no affiliation whatsoever with the Diocese of Scranton.”

The group, dubbed the “Council of Parishes of the Diocese of Scranton,” held an organizational meeting Thursday, with representatives from seven area churches attending. The council was formed by Noreen and Anthony Foti, who have also spearheaded a drive since 2007 to save Sacred Heart Church in Wilkes-Barre.

The diocese conducted a year-long process involving teams from each parish and from parish “clusters” before Bishop Joseph Martino announced his final decision on closings last weekend via recordings played at all Masses throughout the 11-county diocese. Sacred Heart is one of those closing.

The statement says that the Sacred Heart/St. John the Evangelist core committee, the cluster committee including that church, and a central Planning Commission all “agreed, with the exception of one dissenting voice, on the need for closing Sacred Heart Church.” The decision was based on “the number of active parishioners, the number attending Mass, the parish indebtedness, the cost of the church building’s need for extensive structural repairs, the provision of another church within walking distance.

“Opposition to the bishop’s decision in this instance is obviously a rejection of the serious efforts put forth by very dedicated Sacred Heart-Saint John, St. Stanislaus Kostka and Holy Saviour parishioners,” according to the statement. Those three churches were in the same cluster.

The Fotis formed the Sacred Heart Wilkes-Barre Foundation in 2007, and that group has already filed an appeal with Martino regarding the closing of Sacred Heart. If he rejects it – which would keep with his actions when he closed numerous schools and faced similar objections in 2007 – the Fotis said they will appeal to the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington D.C., the pope’s representative in the U.S.

At Thursday’s meeting, they shared information on how to appeal with the members of other churches.

The statement from the diocese says the Bishop’s “only desire” in the process that led to the church consolidations “is that the life of Christ might shine forth from our parishes.”

Mark Guydish, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7161

Tweet	Follow @TLnews

Send Question or Remark to the Publisher

This story also appears on the following websites...