Fall River Bishop George Coleman
announced in March the decision to close the County Street church, but
parishioners have been fighting to keep the 99-year-old building open
and the parish — the oldest Portuguese Roman Catholic one in North
America — alive.
In March, the diocese cited declining attendance and mounting debt in its decision to close the building.
Barring
a formal action, the Congregation for Clergy, which handles parish
closings, typically leaves such decisions to diocesan bishops, Monsignor
Antonio Neri wrote in his Sept. 21 letter, which did not take a
position on the closing.
"In
the event that the diocesan bishop has issued a decision against which
one or more parishioners wish to present hierarchical recourse, they
should be advised to seek canonical counsel without delay," wrote Neri,
who serves as undersecretary of the Congregation for Clergy.
Cases
where the Vatican has reversed a bishop's decision are rare, but exist.
For example, in March, the Congregation for Clergy reversed the
decisions to close 13 churches in the Cleveland Diocese and in 2011,
made a similar ruling for three parishes in the Springfield diocese.
St.
John the Baptist parishioners have so far focused their efforts
locally, but Brian Costa said he and others were already considering
going to the Vatican to take formal recourse against the diocese.
"It's
something we knew that we would have to do if there was no change from
Fall River, so we were already prepared for that," he said.
"I guess it's a good thing we got something from (the pope), some kind of response," he added.