One result of consolidating over 50 parishes in the eight-county diocese can be told in the story of two churches with the same name. The former St. Hedwig's in Akron is now the site of the Orianna House drug rehab facility. And the building for the century-old St. Hedwig's parish in Lakewood has been transformed into a museum of sacred objects, rescued from closed churches. It was in this setting --- surrounded by crucifixes and painted saints --- that Bishop Richard Lennon reported on the result of his parish reconfiguration program
LENNON: In 2006, when I reviewed the records of the Diocese, we had 84 parishes in deficit spending. Now we have 12.
All along, Lennon has maintained that the church closings were necessitated by financial pressures, a shortage of priests, and a population shift to the suburbs. Chief Financial Officer for the Diocese James Gulick says the sales of 26 properties has netted $19 and a half million.
GULICK: This represents the final cash balances of closed parishes, proceeds from the sales of real estate, and incidental receipts, such as the sales of religious items, lease income from the sale of parish facilities, interest income and similar items.
Among the religious items sold were a couple of historic altars which went to churches in Seattle and Mississippi. The Diocese says it continues to maintain the properties that haven't been sold yet, including the buildings of 14 parishes that have filed appeals to the Vatican to protest the closings. One of those is St. Peter's which sits just blocks away from the Diocesan offices in downtown Cleveland. Some of St. Peter's parishioners are defying Bishop Lennon and holding weekly worship services in another building. Bob Kloos attends those services, and he says the building may be closed, but his parish is still alive.
KLOOS: We're waiting for Rome. I think that Rome is going to have the final word.
And he thinks that the final word will be favorable to the protesting parishes. The Diocese will not speculate on the pending appeals. The Vatican's decision is due in March, although officials have put off making that decision twice already.
