On May 31, 2024 Cardinal Dolan issued a decree merging St. Mary's with the parish of St. Peter-St. Denis. At this point, St. Mary's ceased to exist as a parish but became a secondary church in the parish of St. Peter-St. Denis-Immaculate Conception. The Mass schedule was subsequently reduced to one English at 10:00 AM on Sunday. The Arabic Mass continued every Sunday, but this congregation is a separate parish, the Parish of the Good Shepherd, and is part of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. According to some parishioners plans are afoot to move the congregation to another church in Yonkers.
In an effort to restore St. Mary's as a parish, on June 8, 2024 three St. Mary's parishioners appealed to Cardinal Dolan to reverse his decree. When the appeal was denied, in accordance with canonical procedure, the parishioners submitted an appeal to The Dicastery for the Clergy, an office within the Vatican that "... deals with all matters relating to priests and deacons of the diocesan clergy, with regard to their persons and pastoral ministry, and everything needed for the fruitful exercise of the latter. In these matters, it provides suitable assistance to the Bishops." This action was taken on July 23, 2024.
Recently, the parishioners received a decree from the Dicastery for the Clergy revoking the merger issued by Cardinal Dolan. According to the decree from the Vatican, St. Mary's is once again a parish.
Per the decree, the Archdiocese has the option to appeal this decision before the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest court of The Holy See.
No comments:
Post a Comment