Tue Feb 09 2010
By JACK PALMER
JUNCTION -- Concerns about the future of the former St. Mary Catholic Church quickly grew into concerns about the Diocese of Toledo hierarchy during a two-hour-plus meeting Sunday in Junction.
A standing-room-only crowd of more than 75 people packed the one-room Auglaize and Emerald Township Fox Club.
"We have been conditioned by the diocese to never question what they do," said Dan Thiel of United Parishes of Ohio, a group of members of parishes affected by the 2005 church closings in the diocese. Thiel is a former member of the now-closed St. Mary Chapel in Kirby (in Wyandot County).
"Whether it's the sex abuse cases, the church closings or the Father (Gerald) Robinson case, they (diocese leaders) have painted themselves into a corner -- and they cannot explain anything without lying.
"This is really not about our money and our buildings," added Thiel, referring specifically to the church closings. "It's about losing our community. We can attend another parish, but it's not the same community.
"The diocese keeps telling us to be open to change," he added. "When will they be open to change?"
The Junction parish officially closed in 2005, but remained open as a chapel of St. Joseph Catholic in Paulding until this summer. Its final mass was held July 1.
The meeting began with former Junction parishioner Deedi Miller sharing information about the diocese's contract with a Cleveland-area contractor to remove the stained-glass windows and other sacred items from the former church. Last month a group of about 25 peacefully rebuffed a first such attempt by Klimo Inc., but diocese spokesman Colleen Buckman said Friday the contractor will return to remove the windows "before winter."
"I saw the work order myself," said Miller. "The diocese is paying $14,000 to have the windows removed."
Thiel said there are two pending civil lawsuits filed by former parishioners of closed churches in Seneca and Wyandot counties asking those courts to declare Bishop Leonard Blair was only a trustee of their church property and assets, not the true legal owner.
"The parishioners were the beneficiaries of that trust and the true owners, and it was a violation of that trust for the bishop to divert the property and assets," said Thiel.
"Your families bought and paid for this building," he told the former Junction parishioners. "For them (the diocese) to come down and remove the items inside and not allow you to have any say is wrong."
"We have learned a lot since our church closed nearly two years ago," stated Steve Johnson, a former member of the Kansas St. James parish which closed its doors in 2005. "We have become stronger as a community, and individuals have grown stronger in their faith.
"We have to separate our spirituality from the church institution. The institution must change."
"It's not going to be easy," added Thiel. "It's not going to be a simple road. But when you look at the saints of the church and how they lived their lives, it wasn't easy for them, either."
Johnson recounted the events at Kansas St. James after parishioners learned of the bishop's intentions to close the parish.
"We organized a 24/7 prayer vigil which began on May 1, 2005. This was a church that had a regular mass attendance of 79 percent. The average for the diocese is 34 percent."
The vigil continued after the St. James doors were closed on July 1 of that year.
"It lasted until we were aggressively kicked off the property on March 6, 2006," said Johnson. "A man, hired by the diocese, intimidated an elderly lady until she ran frantically to her sister's home a block away. He proceeded to bar all doors to the church and adjacent parish house and would not allow people to retrieve personal items inside. We still haven't received those items back.
"I honestly believe there would have been more closings by now had there not been resistance across the diocese," continued Johnson. "But you can bet there are more closings coming in the future. They (the diocese) plan to merge parishioners into large mega-churches. They see the model of successful non-denominational churches in the Toledo area and they want to compete with that model. In rural areas, they want to have just one church for a whole county."
Thiel said that "it is time we take our church back. We are the church. If no one is in the pews to consecrate the host, the Eucharist means nothing.
"This isn't doom and gloom," he added. "It's an opportunity. It's an opportunity to ask God where he is leading us. I truly believe God is working through all of us. The church isn't going to fall. Jesus Christ is the church."
"We still have good priests," he said. "They are horrified about what's going on, but the trouble is people above them are cutting them off at the knees."
Thiel made reference to the late Father Bill Bodart, a former priest at St. Mary Catholic parish in Defiance.
"Father Bill was my spiritual adviser until the day he died," said Thiel. "He taught me something I will never forget. He told me, 'I am no different than you. My ministry is as a priest and your ministry is as a father, husband and servant of God. We are no different. We are equal.'
"He taught me to stop looking at all the hoopla and look to see who God really is," added Thiel.
Several former parishioners have already retained legal counsel to represent them in negotiations with the diocese over the future of the building.
"What is happening in our diocese and many other dioceses is not what our faith is about," said Thiel. "It's about money. It's about power. It's about being in control."
Comments
By Posting to this site, you agree to our Terms of Service Be polite.
Inappropriate posts may be removed.
Crescent-News.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Login above or Register to comment.
0 Total Comments Home | Back
Copyright Defiance Publishing, LLC 1995-2010. All Rights Reserved.
Content may not be republished without the expresse written consent of the publisher.
Content may not be republished without the expresse written consent of the publisher.
Dix Communications