Vatican: Canon law says closed parish assets must go to new parish, not diocese
In a March letter to USCCB president Bishop William Skylstad, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos instructed that the financial assets of a newly closed parish must be transferred to the receiving parish, not to the diocese. Hoyos, who is head of the Congregation of the Clergy, said it was “not uncommon” for U.S. dioceses to wrongly invoke canon 123, which allows a closed parish’s assets to go to the diocese, often strapped for cash because of the clergy sex abuse crisis.
Hoyos wants the practice to stop: “Only with great difficulty can one say that a parish becomes extinct. A parish is extinguished by the law itself only if no Catholic community any longer exists in its territory, or if no pastoral activity has taken place for 100 years.” He noted that “In most cases ‘suppressions’ are in reality an ‘amalgamation’ or ‘merger’ and as such the goods and liabilities should go to the enlarged parish community and not to the diocese.”
Irate parishioners in the Archdiocese
of Boston and elsewhere had appealed to the Vatican protesting the closure of
their viable and vibrant parishes. In most cases, while the Vatican office upheld
the diocese’s decision to close the parish, it ruled that the assets should
go to the newly formed parish entity, not to the diocese as had occurred in
Boston.
Hoyos’ letter was circulated to all U.S. bishops in July. It will have
far reaching implications because the priest shortage will be forcing dioceses
to close and cluster parishes for the foreseeable future. (For full text
of the Hoyos letter visit www.futurechurch.org)
Parishioners rise up
Parishioners in the Toledo, Manchester, N.H., and Boston dioceses are turning to the civil courts, actively resisting or offering alternatives to diocesan decisions to close or merge parishes that are still vital. In Boston, parishioners from Sacred Heart Parish, Lexington proposed an alternative plan in which it would share a pastor rather than merge. While other dioceses permit such clustering, archdiocesan policy until now was that every parish must have its own pastor.
In Scituate, Mass., vigiling parishioners from St. Frances Cabrini parish are pursuing a civil lawsuit seeking a temporary injunction to prevent the archdiocese from selling the church or its property. The suit went through a second court hearing in July. Parish attorneys in their case cite laws about the role of the archbishop as a trustee.
In Toledo, members of two former parishes, St. Joseph, Salem Township, and St. James in Kansas, Ohio, also filed civil suits. St. James parishioners want to retrieve $78,000 of parish assets taken by the diocese when the parish was closed following months of round-the-clock vigiling by parishioners. In mid-July, Catholics from United Parishes, Voice of the Faithful and SNAP also staged a protest outside diocesan offices.
In New Hampshire, State Rep. Fran Wendelbore hopes to stave off eventual closure of her St. Agnes parish by spearheading a formal appeal to the Vatican to avoid merging with two other churches in nearby towns. Wendelbore believes church leaders are already planning to close her parish despite objections raised by parishioners: “People say that politics is dirty. I’m a politician and I have never seen such filthy politics as church politics.”
Save Our Parish Community Crisis Kit
A crisis kit is available as a free download at www.futurechurch.org It provides immediate information about canonical and civil redress and discernment tools for viable parishes deciding what to do when faced with closing or merger.