In Kansas, Ohio, members of St. James Catholic Church have filed suit against the Diocese of Toledo and Bishop Leonard Blair to get control of their former parish's property and assets, according to this morning's Toledo Blade. Last July Bishop Blair closed 16 churches including St. James Parish, and merged 12 others into new parishes in the 19-county diocese. Two months before the scheduled closure, about 50 St. James parishioners began a prayer vigil in their wood-frame church. Ultimately the Diocese evicted the worshipers and padlocked the building. The members' lawsuit, filed in Seneca County Common Pleas Court, claims that parishioners are the true owners of parish property, and that the Bishop was merely holding the property as trustee for them. Elsewhere in the country, in diocese bankruptcy filings, the Church has often argued the position that plaintiffs are taking here in an effort to keep parish property from Diocese creditors. Meanwhile former St. James parishioners meet each Sunday for a prayer service at a local Methodist church. Rev. Jaroslaw Nowak, of the Polish National Catholic Church, celebrates Mass with them once a month.
UPDATE: A second similar suit was filed against the Toledo Diocese on June 28 by former members of St. Joseph parish in Carey, Ohio whose church was closed by the Diocese in July 2005. (Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune).
