{"id":2167,"date":"2011-03-05T13:18:56","date_gmt":"2011-03-05T18:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/deaconsbench\/?p=2167"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:47:33","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:47:33","slug":"this-is-a-thunderclap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/03\/this-is-a-thunderclap\/","title":{"rendered":""This is a thunderclap…""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

So says one analyst, sizing up the rare move by the Vatican to reverse a decision by a local bishop on some parish closures.<\/p>\n

From the AP<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Like many Roman Catholics, Marie Lutkus felt anger, sadness and disillusionment after her beloved church was shut down in a consolidation of parishes.<\/p>\n

St. Francis of Assisi<\/a> had been her spiritual home since 1961. It\u2019s the place where she was married, where her children and grandchildren were baptized, where she mourned the loss of her parents and brother. So when the doors were locked in 2008, Lutkus couldn\u2019t simply let go.<\/p>\n

Three years later, Lutkus and parishioners at eight other shuttered churches in Pennsylvania\u2019s Allentown diocese have persuaded a Vatican<\/a> panel to overturn the bishop\u2019s decision to close them down \u2014 an exceedingly rare reversal that experts say may signal a policy shift on U.S. church closures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a thunderclap. I am absolutely floored,\u201d said Charles Wilson, executive director of the Saint Joseph Foundation, a San Antonio, Texas-based group that helps Catholic laity navigate church law.<\/p>\n

In a series of decisions that parishioner groups began receiving in January, the Congregation for the Clergy \u2014 the Vatican office in charge of the world\u2019s 400,000 Catholic priests \u2014 said the bishop had failed to come up with a \u201cgrave reason\u201d for shuttering the churches as required by Catholic law. The panel ruled that parishioners must be allowed to use the padlocked buildings for worship.<\/p>\n

Around the same time, the Vatican also rejected attempts by the diocese of Springfield, Mass., to convert three church buildings from holy to secular use.<\/p>\n

While a spokesman said the Allentown diocese is seeking clarification about the Vatican decrees, Wilson and other experts said the decisions should give hope to other parishioner groups fighting to save their places of worship.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first major, official pronouncement by the Congregation for the Clergy that gives relief to American parishioners challenging the suppression of their parishes,\u201d said prominent Catholic activist Peter Borre of the Council of Parishes, which has spent years appealing church closures in the Boston area.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does not bring the parish back to life, but it puts on the table what could be a workable compromise: to physically re-open the locked-up church as a Catholic place of worship,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Check out the rest<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So says one analyst, sizing up the rare move by the Vatican to reverse a decision by a local bishop on some parish closures. From the AP: Like many Roman Catholics, Marie Lutkus felt anger, sadness and disillusionment after her beloved church was shut down in a consolidation of parishes. St. Francis of Assisi had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-churches","category-ripped-from-the-headlines"],"yoast_head":"\n"This is a thunderclap..."<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So says one analyst, sizing up the rare move by the Vatican to reverse a decision by a local bishop on some parish closures. 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