By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

The Vatican issued a rare decree yesterday in which it ordered St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Adams, Massachusetts, and two other churches in the Springfield diocese to reopen as places of worship.

The Berkshire Eagle is reporting that after two years of effort and a round-the-clock prayer vigil by 200 parishioners that has been going on since Dec. 26, 2008, the Vatican issued a decree saying that St. Stanislaus and two other churches had to be reopened.

Even though it upheld the right of the Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell, bishop of Springfield, to “suppress and merge” the Roman Catholic parishes of Adams in December, 2008 into the newly formed Parish of Pope John Paul the Great, it did not believe that the reasons given by the diocese for closing the buildings were justified.

The four-page decree, issued by the Congregation for the Clergy and signed by prefect Mauro Cardinal Piacenza, supports the appeal by St. Stan parishioners to keep the churches open as a divine place of worship.

The decree does not define how the bishop should proceed.

“After over two years’ worth of effort, we are very happy and deeply grateful to the Vatican for hearing our case and deciding it favorably — we feel very blessed that our prayers have been answered,” said Laurie Haas of Adams of St. Stan’s to the Eagle. 

“This is an historic moment in the Catholic Church. It is our understanding that a decree decision like this has just been issued to only two other diocese in the entire U.S. So this is truly monumental, we are very grateful to almighty God for this wonderful blessing and the return of our beloved St. Stanislaus Kostka Church.”

She added: “We very much look forward to working with the bishop to determine the best way to re-open the church.”

Mark Dupont, a spokesman for the diocese, declined comment, saying the diocese had not yet officially received the decree.

© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com