Attorneys argue about court’s jurisdiction in Mon Valley parish closure cases
The Rev. Tom Kunz, a canon lawyer, leaves a hearing Thursday at Washington County Courthouse.
Observer-Reporter
St. Anthony Church on Park Avenue in Monongahela
Sunshine streamed through stained glass Thursday as parishioners, wearing maroon ribbons in solidarity, moved down the center aisle to take their seats on pew-like benches.
Although their surroundings were church-like, the members of two Mon Valley congregations were gathering not in a place of worship, but in what is sometimes called a temple of justice.
People packed the courtroom to listen to their attorney and a lawyer representing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh argue whether Washington County President Judge Katherine B. Emery, as a civil authority, can decide lawsuits filed earlier this year over the closure of two churches, or if Bishop David Zubik is subject only to the laws of the church.
The diocese closed St. Anthony Roman Catholic Church in Monongahela in April 2014, creating St. Damien of Molokai parish at the former Transfiguration church on West Main Street in Monongahela. In January, St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church, Richeyville, became part of St. Katharine Drexel parish.
Diocese attorney David Dye told the judge four entities form a Roman Catholic parish: the members, the priest, the building and the bishop. Dye argued without the bishop as a plaintiff, the suit cannot proceed, and the judge cannot interfere with church matters because to do so would violate the constitutional First Amendment edict that Congress shall make no law establishing a religion or the free exercise of it.
“Canon law is squarely on the side” of the bishop, Dye told the court, asking rhetorically if the bishop or anyone else had pressed the plaintiffs to use their hard-earned money to buy worthless internet stocks, property in Chernobyl or the Brooklyn Bridge.
Attorney Steven Toprani, former district attorney of Washington County who brought suit on behalf of members of St. Anthony and St. Agnes, replied, “Had the bishop sold the Brooklyn Bridge, they would be able to come to court. … He sold them far worse than junk bonds or the Brooklyn Bridge. He sold them the ability they could save their own parish.”
Toprani said the diocesan fundraising campaign known as “The Church Alive!” gave members the impression if they donated enough money, their parishes could remain open.
Dye said “The Church Alive!” program was promoted throughout the entire diocese, not just at churches that were on the verge of closing.
“The court has the power to enforce civil rights without getting into ecclesiastical law,” Toprani argued.
Members of the Pagac family are pursuing an appeal of the St. Agnes closure with the Vatican under canon law.
“We’re not asking you to reverse decisions made by the Holy See,” Toprani told the judge, asking she block the sale of the St. Anthony building.
Emery, who had a full schedule Thursday, did not immediately rule on the preliminary objections presented by the diocese.
After the nearly hourlong proceeding concluded, Francine and Lee Mizwa of Monongahela said they have been attending St. Isaac in Elrama because they find it too upsetting to go to mass at St. Damien of Molokai church. Francine Mizwa said St. Anthony church has been a part of her family “since 1912 when my grandparents came from Italy.”
Outside the courthouse, Glenda Podroskey of Monongahela said older members of the closed congregations find it difficult to attend church farther from home. “Where’s your Christian religion when you’re making it so difficult?” she asked. “I like it that they’re poking them with a stick,” she said of Toprani’s companion legal actions filed on behalf of each congregation.
St. Agnes church has been combined with Ave Maria in Bentleyville, St. Joseph in Roscoe, St. Oliver Plunkett in Fredericktown and St. Thomas Aquinas in California to form the St. Katharine Drexel congregation.
“St. Agnes is not closed,” said the Rev. Tom Kunz, a canon lawyer who was present during legal arguments before Emery. “I think it’s important to make that distinction.”
Although a diocesan website lists St. Agnes as “closed,” a member who declined to be identified said weddings, funerals and baptisms can take place there, as can an observance of the saint’s feast day in January.
Toprani said his family was involved in the founding of St. Anthony parish, a community church 10 blocks from his home, but he was not a member. “I’m actually Protestant,” he said. “I’m one of the rare Italian Baptists.”
As to his allegation the Diocese of Pittsburgh defrauded Catholics through “The Church Alive!” initiative, Toprani said, “It’s how the information was received by the parishioners. This ‘Church Alive!’ initiative is going to help you show self-sufficiency and solvency. This issue was a financial one. The diocese never said this closure was about demographics change or about less Catholics in Monongahela. It was about finances.”
The diocese Thursday was prematurely making arguments to have the case thrown out of court, Toprani said.
While waiting for the hearing to begin, parishioners of St. Agnes and St. Anthony distributed this statement:
“We believe what has happened at St. Agnes and St. Anthony is wrong. No one understands better than us the tremendous damage that unwanted church mergers and closures causes in people’s lives. No one has to accept unwanted mergers and closures.”