April 25, 2014

Vatican office denies appeal of merger of St. Pius Parish in Ripley County

Criterion staff report

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy has denied a petition by a person in the Batesville Deanery who sought to have the merger of St. Pius Parish in Ripley County with St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Milan rescinded.

The petitioner was informed of the court’s decision late last month.

St. Pius Parish was one of 12 parishes in the Batesville Deanery that were merged in 2013 with other nearby faith communities as a result of the planning process that has come to be known as “Connected in the Spirit.”

The appeal to the Congregation for the Clergy was the first appeal of the decision to the Vatican. Any further appeal must be made to the Vatican’s Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s highest canon law court.

In a decree regarding the appeal, Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, noted that St. Pius Church is still available for occasional liturgies and devotional use. He also judged that valid reasons were present to merge St. Pius with St. Charles, and that the proper procedures were used in making the decision regarding St. Pius.
 

(For more information about the “Connected in the Spirit” planning process, log on to www.archindy.org/connected.) †

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