最新杏吧原创

ST. LOUIS 鈥� St. Roch leaders have submitted a last-ditch appeal to the Vatican鈥檚 top court to reopen the 113-year-old Catholic parish in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood.

鈥淲e only wish for our Church to consider, one final time, maintaining and nurturing the unique grace of St. Roch and its legacy,鈥� reads a letter from Michael Stephens, who served as president of the parish council.

Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski issued a closure decree for St. Roch in May 2023 under the Archdiocese of 最新杏吧原创鈥� 鈥淎ll Things New鈥� downsizing plan, citing an operating deficit of $1 million over five years.

Parishioners appealed Rozanski鈥檚 decision to the Dicastery for the Clergy at the Vatican and said the figure was misleading because donations and investments eliminated the deficit each year. The lower court denied the appeal in the spring in part because parish funds will soon be depleted.

Now the appeal goes to the highest court in canon or Catholic church law, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

鈥淎fter extensive discussion, reflection, and consultation, we discerned that it was important to honor the legacy of the parishioners who fought so hard to nurture the Parish through the turbulent 1970s and 1980s, when survival was bleak,鈥� Stephens wrote.

There were 76 families in the parish when the Rev. Msgr. Sal Polizzi came to St. Roch in 1980, according to the letter. There were about 300 families when the parish was closed one month after Polizzi died in April 2023. St. Roch鈥檚 territory is now part of Christ the King parish in University City.

The process of appealing to the Vatican鈥檚 supreme court can cost about $10,000, according to Jason Bolte of the Catholic advocacy group Save Rome of the West.

The group is also working on supreme court appeals for St. Barnabas parish in O鈥橣allon, Missouri, and St. Paul in Franklin County which were also among the 50 out of 178 archdiocesan parishes closed or merged last year. St. Barnabas is now a Hispanic parish named for St. Juan Diego, and St. Paul was absorbed by Assumption parish in New Haven.

The Vatican鈥檚 highest court can take one to two years to rule on appeals and has never overturned a local bishop鈥檚 decision to close a parish, said Brody Hale, a Massachusetts attorney with experience in canon law.

Still, precedent is irrelevant in the canon law system, Hale said.

鈥淓ach of these cases is going to be decided on their individual merits or circumstances,鈥� he said.

The case for St. Barnabas revolves around access to the traditional Latin Mass, which Pope Francis has restricted in parish churches since 2021.

In their appeal, St. Barnabas parishioners will argue that the church should qualify for an exemption because the Latin Mass was exclusively celebrated for close to five years and was the only option in St. Charles County and areas further west in the archdiocese.

鈥淲e were an existing Latin rite parish that should have never been eliminated,鈥� said Bolte of Save Rome of the West.

The appeal for St. Paul in rural Franklin County with 122 households will argue that the parish was just as vibrant as St. Angela Merici near Florissant, St. Martin of Tours in Lemay and St. Richard in Creve Coeur. Rozanski鈥檚 closure decrees for the suburban 最新杏吧原创 County parishes were previously overturned by the lower Vatican court.

鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing that says because a parish is small you can eliminate it,鈥� Hale said.

There are five parishes with appeals pending at the Vatican 鈥� Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Matthew the Apostle in 最新杏吧原创; St. Bernadette in 最新杏吧原创 County; and St. Agnes and St. Lawrence in Ste. Genevieve County.