Parishes are not reopening

Date: 2/23/2011

Feb. 23, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE — Although there was confusion over the status of three churches in Chicopee last week, the spokesman for the Springfield diocese said the message from the Vatican upheld the decision to merge the parishes of Assumption, St. George and St. Patrick into the Holy Name of Jesus parish.

Mark Dupont explained the situation through a written statement and then an interview with Reminder Publications.

The diocese learned last week the decision made by the Congregation for the Clergy upheld the combination of the parishes. Dupont wrote, "In the matter of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, Chicopee, the congregation has upheld the decision by Bishop [Timothy] McDonnell both to amalgamate that parish into the Holy Name of Jesus Parish, Chicopee and allowed its closing as a place of worship. It should be noted that subsequently the bishop has allowed the Assumption Church to re-open temporarily while structural concerns at nearby Holy Name of Jesus Church are investigated. It is currently open as the place of worship for Holy Name of Jesus Parish."

Dupont continued, "In the matters of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Adams; St. George Parish, Chicopee; and St. Patrick Parish, Chicopee, the Congregation has upheld the decision by Bishop McDonnell to amalgamate those parishes, St. Stanislaus into Pope John Paul the Great Parish and both St. George and St. Patrick into the Holy Name of Jesus Parish, Chicopee. In these three instances, however, the Congregation has indicated that, in its judgment, sufficiently grave reason was not provided to close each of these church buildings and that they should be used in some manner as determined by the bishop. It has to be stressed that in each instance the parish itself is not being reestablished and that any permitted use of the building will not be the same as when it was a parish church."

Local reports that St. Patrick Church was going to re-open were incorrect, Dupont said.

The church buildings at St. George and St. Patrick are not going to be marketed as the St. Joseph Church was in Springfield's South End neighborhood at this time. The diocese will maintain them until a decision on their ultimate use can be determined.

"We're continuing a process we're in the middle of," Dupont said, referring to the re-organization of the diocese.

The Vatican ruling allows McDonnell to use the buildings for a religious purpose, but not as the home for a parish. Dupont added the diocese has no use intended for the buildings at this time.

He explained the parishes that have been merged are not going to be re-established, which might be confusing to people who think of a church building and a parish as one entity.

Dupont also wrote last week, "The prefect for the Congregation for the Clergy, Mauro Cardinal Piacenza, issued an apology to Bishop McDonnell for having failed to provide the diocese with these decisions in advance of their public release."