12.03.09 The Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy has notified individuals of St. Vincent Pallotti parish in Haddon Township that their request for recourse against Bishop Joseph Galante’s intention to merge the parish with St. Aloysius in Oaklyn was not upheld.
Bishop Galante last year announced his intention to merge the parishes with the seat of the parish located at St. Aloysius. However, he also announced his intention that St. Vincent Pallotti would remain a worship site for the new parish.
Some parishioners of Saint Vincent Pallotti parish had written to the Congregation in April and September 2008 seeking “recourse” against Bishop Galante’s intention to unite the parishes at St. Aloysius.
Under Church law, individual parishioners have the right to seek hierarchic recourse-a formal request before the Congregation for Clergy to confirm, amend or revoke a bishop’s decision to alter a parish-to ensure that any alteration of a parish is carried out in accord with Church law, after appropriate consultation, in a way that protects the rights of the Faithful and serves the common good.
The Congregation had informed St. Vincent Pallotti parishioners last fall that it had agreed to consider their request for recourse. After a year-long review, Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, Secretary of the Congregation for Clergy, wrote to the parishioners and to Bishop Galante on November 10, 2009 to inform them of the Congregation’s conclusion that “no recourse is considered operative at this time.”
In particular, the Congregation stressed that the location of the seat of the merged parish and the appointment of its pastoral leadership was not a matter for review by the Congregation. “Decisions as to the location of the offices of the merged parish, and the appointment of the pastor for that parish, fall within the direct competence only of the local bishop, and therefore outside the scope of a canonical recourse,” said Archbishop Piacenza in the letter.
Father David Klein, chancellor of the diocese, said, “We are grateful that the Congregation, after a thorough examination of this matter, has affirmed Bishop Galante’s intention in both process and substance to strengthen parish life in this area of the diocese.”
The parish planning process was initiated in the diocese in fall 2006 in order to address the decline in the number of diocesan priests available for ministry, a long-term decline in religious practice, and population and demographic changes. The reconfiguration also seeks to bring financial health and stability to parishes in the diocese so that they will have the means to provide improved care to parishioners, primarily through expanded ministries that will address the major pastoral priorities identified at Speak Up sessions.
Bishop Galante’s announcement of his intentions for the reconfiguration of parishes in April 2008 followed more than a year of study, as well as extensive consultation with deanery planners, priest deans, the diocesan planning commission and the Presbyteral Council.
In August 2008, Bishop Galante appointed a Priest Convener to oversee each parish configuration. The Priest Conveners are working with Core Teams composed of parishioners from each parish in the merger to complete the necessary civil, canonical, administrative, and pastoral steps in preparation for merger.
Monsignor Leonard Scott, the Priest Convener for the merger of St. Aloysius and St. Vincent Pallotti, said, “I know that with God’s grace and the support of parishioners from St. Vincent Pallotti and St. Aloysius, we will together create a stronger parish that will draw on the unique gifts of both faith communities as we grow more deeply in love of God and neighbor and serve the needs of every age group in this area of the diocese.”