Vatican Upholds Bishop’s Decree

Vatican Upholds Bishop’s Decree to Relegate Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church to appropriate non-religious use

FEBRUARY 1, 2018, WORCESTER, MA -- The Office of the Judicial Vicar announced today that the Congregation for the Clergy at the Vatican has upheld the decision by Bishop Robert McManus to relegate Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church to “profane but not sordid use” morally acceptable use other than as a church. According to Msgr. F. Stephen Pedone, diocesan judicial vicar/vicar for canonical affairs, the diocese received word of the decision in mid-January. An announcement was held until he could confirm that the petitioners were aware of the decision. Msgr. Pedone is also the pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish at Our Lady of Loreto Church.
            In a decree issued Oct. 24, 2017, Bishop McManus gave the history of the church and detailed the “serious deterioration” of the building dating back to 1967. He then cited the reasons for closing the building and finally declared that Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church is “relegated to profane but not sordid use,” according to the norm of canon law.
            The Mount Carmel Preservation Society, a group of former parishioners seeking to keep the church open, asked Bishop McManus to change his decision, but he rejected their appeal. Individual members then appealed to the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy which issued its decision Dec. 20. The diocese learned of the response in mid-January. The petitioners now can appeal that decision to the Apostolic Signatura, the highest court in the Vatican, according to Msgr. Pedone.
            “The good news for the parish and the diocese is that the Congregation has twice upheld the bishop’s decisions,” Msgr. Pedone said. Previously it upheld the decision to merge Our Lady of Mount Carmel - St. Ann Parish and Our Lady of Loreto Parish. The parishes were merged after Mount Carmel Church on Mulberry Street was closed May 1, 2016, because of safety concerns.
            Individuals also appealed the merger to the Congregation. After its rejection, they made a second appeal to the Apostolic Signatura. The Signatura ruled in December that the appeal was incomplete. It gave the group time to complete the appeal, according to Msgr. Pedone.
            The parish’s property committee wants to move ahead to sell the property and that there is already significant interest in the property. Consistent with other church sales in the diocese, proceeds from a sale would go to the recently merged parish.
            In other efforts to keep the church open, a church which was originally built for the Italian-American community, the Preservation Society last year petitioned the Worcester Historical Commission to initiate a study group to make the Mount Carmel property on Mulberry Street a historic district, but the Worcester Historical Commission voted 3-2 against doing so. Last week the commission voted unanimously to deny a new request by the group to include the property into a different historical district.
            The 89-year-old building was deemed unsafe in 2016 after the front wall began pulling away from the rest of the building and the steeple was unstable. The parish borrowed more than $200,000 from the diocese to cover the costs to stabilize the building in order to protect the public, although the building is not usable by the parish in its current condition.