St. Pat's Receives Another Letter from the Vatican
April 9, 2010
On April 8, 2010, Marilyn Madigan, who is a member of the Save St. Pat's Committee, received a letter dated March 25, 2010 from the under secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy. The letter states that the Congregation is taking more time to "thoroughly...study" the matter. They have extended their time limit to June 24, 2010.
They also requested that we send them news of any developments that take place that they should be aware of. We will be informing them of the Bishop Lennon's arbitrary closing date of May 30th and hope that they will exert their authority to postpone or, even better, cancel the closing of St. Pat's.
Our previous letter from the Vatican, received last year, differed in that it said they extended the time limit in order to give the Ordinary (Bishop Lennon) time to respond to our recourse. This letter states that they need more time to study our recourse.
We are aware that St. Emeric, St. Wendolyn and St. James have also received similar letters in regard to the filings for recourse.
The arrival of this letter is good news for all the parishioners of St. Patrick's. We are hopeful that this is a good development. We will keep you informed of any new developments that occur.
Death of a Parrish
Murder Mystery Night at St. Pat's
April 16th at 7pm
Come join us for a great night of murder, mystery and fun. The "Parrish" family hosts a dinner and you're invited. The fun all happens at St. Patrick's Thorpe Hall. Included is a rigatoni dinner with salad, roll, coffee, water and dessert. Just $12.50 per person. For tickets call the rectory at 216-251-8286. This is a "Fun" raiser. If it was a "Fund" raiser we would not be allowed to have it.
Fr. Begin Stands Up for Cleveland's Catholics!
Read the extraordinary letter by Fr. Bob Begin, of St. Colman's parish. After a year of writing personal letters to the bishop, none of which were responded to, Fr. Begin wrote an open letter and sent it to the Plain Dealer.
Fr. Begin stated he could no longer be seen as complicit in what the diocese is doing by virtue of his public silence. He said other priests have expressed similar opinions.
Read the Plain Dealer article and also read Fr. Begin's letter here. We could only hope for such courage to be shown by our pastoral leadership.
March 9th Has Come
No News Means....No News
3/9/10
This is from our team in Rome:
There is no significance in a "no-response" from the Congregation for the Clergy by March 9. The Congregation gives mandatory deadlines to the parishioner appeal groups, but not to themselves. The Congregation may or may not bother to inform the appeal groups after the date set for themselves has passed.
This means that we have 30 days from March 9th to file our appeal to the Apostolic Signatura, which we are ready to do at any time. It also means that we may still hear from the Congregation for the Clergy at any time. Our advocate in Rome is scheduled to meet with them. We will keep you posted.
New Cornerstone is Out!
2/23/10
Read the very latest in the new Cornerstone distributed on February 20-21, 2010. See it online by clicking the link in right hand column.
Save St. Pat's and Merger Team reach tentative agreement, Bishop Lennon trumps it
1/28/10
Earlier this month members of Save St. Pat's committee met with members of the merger team and Fr. Hagedorn. An agreement was reached that would have allowed the merger team to give an update regarding the merger during our Thursday prayer and town hall meetings. In order to foster cooperation between us, Save St. Pat's members were to be given back the opportunity to make announcements after certain masses. These announcements were to be given jointly with the merger team. Also, we would be given space in the bulletin for announcements. Finally our web link to this site would be returned to the St. Pat's home page and this site would stay where it is at. All that was needed was ratification from the remaining members of the merger team, who were to meet on January 25th.
Since then the merger team brought this agreement to Bishop Lennon who essentially made it meaningless and told the merger team their agreement was moot.
Fr. Hagedorn offers insight into Bishop Lennon's decision making on closing St. Pat's
1/25/10
In his weekly bulletin column, Fr. Hagedorn acknowledged finally speaking to Bishop Lennon regarding the decision to close St. Pat's and merge with Ascension and Annunciation.
According to Fr. Hagedorn, Bishop Lennon's argument for going to two parishes in our cluster was based on the finances of St. Pat's, Ascension and Annunciation and the ability of three parishes to survive.
The bishop's choice of site had to do with geography, Ascension being 1.8 miles closer to the center of the gaping hole left by his church closings. Also cited is the presence of the senior condos on Ascension's property, as their elderly could worship at the Ascension site more easily.
Left out of that decision making process are 3 obvious facts:
- West Park Catholic Academy's presence next to St. Pat's was trumped by the better access for Ascension Village seniors to the church. The youth from all three member parishes, and the future of the Catholic Church were conspicuously ignored. WPCA's future was put in obvious peril.
- The seniors living near St. Pat's are secondary to the seniors living near Ascension.
- The merged Ascension/Annunciations finances were in question -- their budget relying on getting $1.25 million for the Ascension school building -- so the bishop chose to close St. Pat's which is a larger facility with greater attendance, more member families, higher weekly collections, and a lower payroll.
While Bishop Lennon did not communicate his determining factors to St. Pat's parishioners, parish staff or the Save St. Pat's committee before this year -- our committee made the correct assumption that the letters from Frs. Fortuna and Daw, cited by Fr. Hagedorn in his column, were key to the closing of St. Pat's.
What Fr. Hagedorn did not acknowledge in his column, that stated Frs. Fortuna and Daw's were concerned that three parishes could not be supported, is their assertion that it should be St. Pat's that closes. Our appeal to Rome makes it clear that Bishop Lennon's decision disregarded two years of cluster planning and approval by the cluster's members; and relies heavily on the final comments of Ascension and Annunciation's cluster teams, which reversed without discussion what they had already approved after much deliberation.
St. Pat's parishioners hire canon lawyer
for the next step, the Apostolic Signatura
1/21/10
The St. Patrick parishioners have retained expert canonical counsel in Rome to pursue their ‘recourse’ against the unjust suppression of St. Patrick Church (West Park). This recourse is currently at the level of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy, and has been there since July 24, 2009.
In the event of no action by the Congregation in the near future, or a decision against our recourse, the St. Patrick parishioners are now in a position to bring the case promptly to the ‘Apostolic Signatura,’ the Vatican's equivalent to the U.S. Supreme Court. Our canonical counsel is one of only ten individuals world-wide qualified to plead cases at the Signatura, and one of only two qualified to plead cases at the level of the Holy See itself.
His expertise and his unique skills are evidence of our determination to challenge vigorously the action of Cleveland’s Ordinary, Bishop Richard Lennon.
Catholic Churches "tastefully" put up for sale
Here is a sad commentary on our times: http://www.clevelandchurchinventory.org/
Save St. Pat's Website will be
Searching for a New Home
12/1/09
Save St. Pat's Committee has been told to remove this website from stpatrickwp.org, it's current home. Until a new web domain can be obtained and a new hosting service found you should continue to look for the pages here. When a new home is found we will post it here and on facebook.
The website was started seven years ago by a Save St. Pat's committee member in order to promote and provide information about the parish and the former St. Pat's School. The website has been paid for in the past by the former St. Pat's Athletic Association. When the school merged and became West Park Catholic Academy, St. Pat's Holy Name Society took over the payments.
Parishioners Working to Save the Parish are Impugned
11/23/09
In this past weekend's bulletin Fr. Hagedorn expressed his views regarding Save St. Pat's committee members and St. Pat's parishioners as a whole, using his weekly column (see the bulletin here). In his letter he implied that we may not be acting in a Christian manner because we do not believe the merger of St. Pat's with Ascension and Annunciation is right for any of the parishes concerned, and have acted to keep our doors open.
The Congregation for the Clergy is still considering our appeal. They have imposed a deadline of December 9th on themselves. We pray they will consider recourse in this matter and see that St. Pat's is a vibrant parish community that should remain open. We still believe that Fr. Hagedorn and Bishop Lennon should respect that the Congregation has left this matter open for the time being. God bless Bishop Lennon, Fr. Hagedorn, the rest of our clergy, and the parishioners of St. Pat's as we move through this difficult process.
See the response letter from Save St. Pat's committee members here.
St. Pat's Past, Present & Future
Sunday, November 15th
St. Patrick West Park (Past, Present & Future) is Sunday Nov. 15th from 3-7 PM. Bald Paul's Irish Blues Band & Cannon Dancers will perform along with Raffle (Blanket Chest), Sideboards, Bake Sale, Food and Refreshments available. All this will support Funds for the Future of St. Pat's (75%) & Holy Name (25%) to keep St. Pat's OPEN. Admission is 1 item for Hunger Center per person & free-will donation. This event is celebrating our Parish Family & West Park. All are WELCOME. Flyers are circulating throughout West Park Community. If you can help in any way, please contact me at 216-269-9560. Family Friendly- invite all to join us for this event. We need everyone's help to keep our doors open to serve the West Park community & spread God's Word. Together we can prevail- Pray to Our Blessed Mother for her help- she is right there with us - Pray the Rosary. See you on Sunday, Nov. 15th!
WPCA Students May Attend Mass in Gym
10/19/09
The West Park Catholic Academy committee preparing liturgies for a possible future without St. Patrick's Church has been considering having Mass for the students in the gym -- while the church is still open. A number of parents have already voiced their concern over this possibility. Canon law stipulates that Mass should be conducted in a sacred place if it is available. We believe Mass should continue in the church as long as it is open. Not withstanding our appeal, St. Pat's is scheduled to close on May 30, 2010.
Mrs. Rajnichek, the school principal, has sent a letter home with students this week which explains the school's position on the possible move. Read it here. Her concern is that the end of school year Mass would have to be in the gym if the church is to close. We believe it is not necessary to have gym Masses months ahead of the scheduled close. If the church does close, the only Mass that would have to be in the gym would be the last one.
Attendance and Collections are Falling
10/12/09
As a consequence of the decree to close St. Pat's, Mass attendance has declined recently. As are result weekly collections have gone down as well. We encourage everyone to continue going to Mass. If you are holding back collections because you are concerned about where they'll go, you can make a designation for the funds in a separate envelope.
Remember, we have a recourse in Rome being considered right now. We are planning for our future with a reinvigorated pledge campaign. Let's keep our family tongether! Attend Mass, give generously!
Merger Planning Continues despite canon law
9/29/09
The merger team continues to meet and plan the closing of St. Pat's. Canon law stipulates that the petition for recourse (our appeal) also implies a suspension of a decree. We again ask the bishop and Father Hagedorn to respect the process that is continuing in Rome and suspend the merger until a decision is made or the December 9th deadline has passed.
A Letter from Rome!
9/23/09
Marilyn Madigan, a St. Pat's parishioner, received a letter from the Congregation for the Clergy yesterday. In the letter, the Congregation extends the time for which they will decide our recourse (appeal) to December 9, 2009.
This letter is significant. Correspondence from the Congregation for the Clergy is rare. Our experts say it is a sign that they find some things that are troubling here in Cleveland.
We again ask Bishop Lennon and Father Hagedorn to suspend merger activities while we await a decision from Rome.
Pray for St. Pat's, the Merger Can Wait
9/16/09
At weekend masses, Fr. Hagedorn has asked that everyone pray for the merger. We suggest if you are not supportive of the merger that you say a prayer for our appeal to receive a favorable review by the Congregation for the Clergy. We believe prayer is important and it will lead you in the right direction.
T-shirts and Yard Signs still available
9/16/09
If you are interested in a St. Pat's t-shirt or yard sign, we still have these items available. All profits from the sale benefit the Save St. Pat's effort. Signs can be ordered through Pat Singleton, or by selecting the Contact Us link above and leaving an order.
NOTE: Fr. Hagedorn has forbidden us from selling these items on parish property (we apologize for the inconvenience).More Yards Signs ††( I will be ordering more today- Fr. Tom says no selling on church grounds!! †Fine- asking Therese Chambers to make available at Public House or 1 of us will have to be the sign person)
Bumper Stickers/Clings are being ordered right now and we'll announce their sale soon.
Fr. Hagedorn Asks Parish Council to Support the Merger
9/16/09
At a recent parish council meeting, Fr. Hagedorn asked parish council to work with the Merger Committee, which has been meeting for the past few weeks. He requested that parish council comply with any requests to assist the merger.
Council president, Pat Singleton, and others had reservations about parish council supporting the merger while our appeal is still with the Congregation for the Clergy in Rome.
We have been advised that our appeal suspends merger activity. Pat and others stated that parish council should wait until Rome makes a decision on our appeal or until the time for considering the appeal has passed. The Congregation for the Clergy has 90 days to rule on our appeal. If that period passes without a decision it is considered a denial of the appeal. The date we would like Fr. Hagedorn and council to wait for is October 28, 2009.
We believe that there will be ample time to press ahead with the merger after that date if we do not hear from Rome. We also believe, and have made clear to Fr. Hagedorn, that we should give our appeal a fair chance and ask that he would support St. Pat's and the appeal process.
St. Pat's to Appeal to Rome
On Tuesday, July 7th, Bishop Lennon sent a letter to Fr. Hagedorn and Pat Singleton to inform St. Patrick West Park that our appeal has been rejected because the time for appealing his incomplete March decree had expired.
We are very disappointed by the decision. Unfortunately, it does not address our reasons for staying open as St. Pat's. We also did not receive any answers regarding the reasons the Bishop chose us to merge, or why we were not chosen as the site of the new parish, along side the merged West Park Catholic Academy.
We believe we complied with the time lines for filing an appeal of the merger decree. On our behalf, a parishioner filed an appeal to Rome with 15 days of the incomplete merger decree in March. Only a handful of parishes received incomplete decisions in March, St. Pat's being one of them. Our parish council appeal was filed within 15 days of the bishop's adjusted updated decree of May 27th.
We have retained the services of St. Kate Kuenstler to advise us on filing an appeal to the Congregation for the Clergy in Rome. She is a canon lawyer with over 14 years experience in canon law. Sr. Kate believes we have a strong case for appeal.
With the appeal to Rome, canon law stipulates that merger activity must be suspended until a decision is made by the Congregation for the Clergy.
The effort to Save St. Pat's is totally in parishioner hands now. Remember, St. Pat's is not a building, it's a family. Don't let anyone tell you that you are wrong to fight for your parish to live and prosper. Which leads us to...
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