More hope for parishioners working to save Holy Trinity Church in the Diocese of Syracuse. Here's an article with video from CNY. The Diocese is pushing back, however. Also, from the article in the Wall Street Journal:
The decree concluded that an appeal by parishioners of the church has "basis both in law and in fact." The Diocese of Syracuse, however, said the three-page order from the Congregation of the Clergy does not force it to reverse direction and reopen Holy Trinity Church.
It's the latest in a series of similar rulings this year affecting closed churches in New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.
"It means the church was improperly closed," said Nicholas Cafardi, a law professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and an expert in canon law who has seen the decree.
"Certainly, the spirit of the decree is that they should reopen it, but not all rights are always enforceable," Cafardi said Monday. "It's up to the bishop to recognize the rights of the people that were upheld."
And more:
Cafardi says it appears the Vatican panel, in also overturning decisions in Allentown, Pa. and Springfield, Mass., has ruled that the bishops should have considered the rights of the parishioners in deciding to close the churches.
"I'm interested to find out that Rome is pushing back on American bishops," said Marie Lutkus, a parishioner involved in the Allentown appeal. "There hadn't been a ruling against an American bishop's decision since 1982, and there have been a number of them in the past couple of months."
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