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  • Court: Bishop may sell church

    Court: Bishop may sell church
    By ALBERT McKEON, Telegraph Staff
    [email protected]

    Nashua Telegraph, NH
    Dec 8 2004

    Published: Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004

    NASHUA - Addressing a contentious argument surfacing throughout
    American Catholicism, a judge ruled that a bishop and not parishioners
    have direct control of a church.

    Bishop John McCormack thus can sell St. Francis Xavier Church to the
    Armenian Orthodox Church because the transaction observes restrictions
    in the French Hill property's 119-year-old deed, according to a
    Hillsborough County Probate Court judge.

    But former parishioners of St. Francis Xavier disagree, and hold hope
    that a civil court judge will soon favor their side. The parishioners
    filed a civil suit in Hillsborough County Superior Court contending
    they are beneficiaries of the church, and that McCormack essentially
    manages the property in trust for them.

    Attorney Randall Wilbert, who represents the group of parishioners,
    said the probate court ruling - handed down Nov. 23 - does not affect
    his clients, and that they still await a decision in the civil court.
    They believe a state law cements their rights, and that the proposed
    sale defies their interests, he said.

    But those involved in the potential sale, while also awaiting a
    decision in the civil court, express satisfaction with the probate
    ruling. McCormack, as leader of the Diocese of Manchester, has a $1
    million purchase-and-sale agreement with local real estate developer
    Vatche Manoukian.

    Manoukian intends to donate the property to the Armenian Orthodox
    Church because he has identified a potential parishioner base for the
    church, his attorney, Gerald Prunier, said Tuesday. A sale, however,
    is based upon the final approval of Archbishop Torkom Manoogian,
    the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The matter is now
    before church hierarchy, and all interested parties hope a decision
    will come early next year, Prunier said.

    "It's a good use of the church," he said.

    That use was the focus of the probate argument, one initiated by the
    Catholic diocese, and it also lies at the heart of the civil case.

    The diocese closed the century-old Norman basilica-style building
    last year and merged the parish with St. Louis de Gonzague Church.
    Diocesan officials maintain the Armenian church's use of the building
    would follow the precepts of an 1885 deed granted by The Jackson Co.,
    a textile manufacturer that donated the hilltop land on which the
    building sits. That stipulation is the land must always hold a place
    of religious observance.

    "If the donor had wanted the property to be used for a Roman Catholic
    church, the donor would have written that," diocesan attorney
    Ovide Lamontagne said Tuesday. "But the donor said public religious
    purposes."

    Probate Court Judge Raymond Cloutier agreed, ruling that the
    transaction would be in accordance with the deed. Cloutier also ruled
    that McCormack holds "legal title" for the Diocese of Manchester.

    "Individual parishioners of Saint Francis Xavier do not have standing
    in the matter before the court as it relates to . . . the sale of
    the property," Cloutier wrote.

    But Wilbert said the former parishioners, in fact, do have standing.
    A legislative bill enacted in 1901 recognizes them as beneficiaries,
    and the bishop who leads the diocese only holds the property in trust
    on their behalf, Wilbert said. This argument was presented in the
    civil case.

    The issue of who has controlling interest in a church - a bishop
    or parishioners - has risen to the forefront of several challenges
    involving the closing of parishes throughout the country. Several
    dioceses have, as part of a restructuring program, closed old churches
    that have significant spiritual and sentimental value to parishioners.

    St. Francis Xavier opened in 1898 after French-Canadian immigrant
    mill workers funded its construction with their own nickels and
    dimes. But the diocese closed the building last year and merged the
    parish with St. Louis de Gonzague, citing a dwindling parishioner
    base and collection coffers, and the prevailing clergy shortage.

    The diocese points to a clergy-and-parishioner-driven task force
    as proof that church leaders thoughtfully considered options before
    selecting St. Francis and two other inner-city churches for closure.
    But many St. Francis parishioners protested all efforts to close the
    Chandler Street church; some of them are plaintiffs in the civil suit.

    "As unfortunate, as difficult as it is for parishes to be closed and
    consolidated, it's the necessary evolution for the church," Lamontagne
    said. For that work to carry forward, the bishop must have authority
    to act on behalf of parishioners, he said.

    Lamontagne had noted in his probate argument that Catholic canon
    law governs the organization of the church, and that a parish falls
    under this jurisdiction. Parishioners "cannot and do not speak for
    the parish," he wrote.

    He hopes the civil court will recognize this organizational structure.

    But the parishioners hope the civil court will view the matter
    differently: that state law does give them a voice.
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