Parishioners of Closed Ohio Churches, Critical of Diocese, Pursue Litigation,

Today's Toledo Blade carries two stories on lawsuits in which rural Catholic Churches are challenging the 2005 decision of the Diocese of Toledo to restructure parish boundaries. In Junction, Ohio, a former member of the now-closed St. Mary’s Catholic Church has sued to prevent the Diocese from removing the windows and other sacred items from the church. The Diocese wants to store the items for future use elsewhere. Meanwhile in Kansas, Ohio, parishioners of the former St. James Catholic Church who filed suit last year to challenge their church's closing have been angered by new discoveries. They have found that over $44,000 of funds they donated to the parish before it closed have been transferred by the Diocese to pay attorneys hired to fight the parishioners' lawsuit.