Bishop Richard Lennon of the Diocese of Cleveland recently issued a stay of execution to two parishes that he commanded be closed: St. Colman's, the beautiful and historic Irish-American church, and St. Ignatius of Antioch, another beautiful landmark church on the Cleveland's West Side.
I am very glad that these churches will not be closed--but I am not grateful to Bishop Lennon. That would grant him too much credit. Bishop Lennon did what was right and just in these two instances. But he did not overturn his decisions in 50+ other cases, including the outrageous order to close down St. Peter's, Cleveland's oldest Catholic church and its most dynamic and progressive community.
As I have said before, these churches were built by us and our ancestors, not by Bishop Lennon. We paid for them; we sometimes built them with our own hands. Our thumb prints, blood and sweat are in the bricks and mortar. These churches are not Bishop Lennon's to close. It is clear that hundreds, indeed thousands of Clevelanders are angry with the bishop's arbitrariness. And I'll bet that includes many priests and religious of our diocese. It may include our retired bishop, Anthony Pilla.
Who is to judge the bishop's motives? Let's assume the best of intentions. But he has damaged the Diocese of Cleveland and the City of Cleveland (and the Greater Cleveland area). And he probably has permanently damaged his relationship with the Catholics of Greater Cleveland.
We want our Church back.
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