Nashua Telegraph, NH
Jan 23 2005
Church backers want suit reconsidered
By ALBERT McKEON, Telegraph Staff
[email protected]
NASHUA – Objectors to the closure of St. Francis Xavier Church want a
judge to reconsider their rejected civil lawsuit.
Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge William Groff dismissed the
suit this month, backing a previous probate court ruling that allows
the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester to sell the property to the
Armenian Orthodox Church.
But former parishioners of the closed Catholic church still argue
their bishop can’t complete the deal. They want Groff to review the
statutory trust under which Bishop John McCormack oversees the church
and to decide if he has not acted in the best interests of
parishioners.
`I don’t know if . . . the court weighed the decision on whether
(McCormack) had the right to sell it or not,’ said attorney Randall
Wilbert, who represents a small group of former parishioners and a
few preservationists who admire the century-old building’s
architecture.
The superior and probate courts have upheld the potential $1 million
sale to local real estate developer Vatche Manoukian, who has said he
wants to donate the property to the Armenian Orthodox Church. The
purchase awaits the final approval of the Armenian Orthodox
Patriarchate of Jerusalem, according to those involved.
But Wilbert and his clients think Groff focused on ancillary issues
concerning the church and did not focus solely on the statutory trust
question. For instance, Groff ruled he couldn’t make decisions on the
diocese merging St. Francis Xavier with St. Louis de Gonzague because
of constitutional provisions separating church and state.
`We’ve never questioned the diocese’s right to suppress parishes,’
Wilbert said of the merger and closure process that occurred in 2003.
`We’re talking about the building. Would we be having this discussion
if instead of a church it was Michelangelo’s `Pieta’?’
Looking at the church strictly as a building, and not as a parish, is
the center of Wilbert’s reconsideration request. He believes the
diocese’s argument to dismiss the lawsuit – that parishioners wanted
the court to review the bishop’s authority on parish mergers –
unnecessarily appeared in Groff’s ruling. Rather, the parishioners
want the court to review their lawsuit only as a bricks-and-mortar
issue, Wilbert said. Does the bishop have the statutory authority to
sell the property in trust, the reconsideration request asks the
court.
Wilbert furthered his `Pieta’ example to highlight the statutory
question. He hypothetically asked if the diocese could sell the Pieta
– an object it owned on behalf of parishioners – for $1 million, even
if the proceeds would benefit those parishioners.
Groff did give the parishioners legal standing on any deed challenge
because they are beneficiaries of the statutory trust. But he found
no evidence McCormack, as the trustee, would use sale proceeds for
any purpose other than the benefit of parishioners.
The statutory question rests on a 119-year-old deed granted by a
now-defunct textile manufacturer, The Jackson Co., that once operated
in the French Hill neighborhood. The company granted the hilltop land
on which the church sits, under the stipulation that the land always
have a place of religious observance.
Ovide M. Lamontagne, an attorney representing the diocese, hadn’t
read Wilbert’s filing as of Friday, but said he was familiar with its
premise. He said the basis behind the reconsideration request tries
to eliminate a bishop’s ability to manage any parish property.
`The statute quite explicitly finds that a bishop can use the
property to advance the interests of parish,’ Lamontagne said.
The parishioners interpret the trust to read that the bishop can
never act in any fashion on a parish property, contradicting the sole
purpose of the trust, he said.
Former parishioner Francis Bonner points to the argument in the new
filing that claims the Catholic Church has many churches that are
separate from a parish. A mission, oratory or college church exists
outside the parish structure, and St. Francis Xavier should be
legally reviewed as such – simply as a Catholic Church building, he
said.
The former parishioners haven’t lost hope in their long struggle to
preserve the church, Bonner said.
`If this one is destroyed or sold, it won’t be there for future
(Catholic) bishops,’ Bonner said. `This is the essence of our
position. We’re trying to save a grand church for future
generations.’
Lamontagne has another perspective.
`At some point in time, when the laws and decisions in a case are
clear, it does become unreasonable to continue a battle,’ he said. `I
never fault (people) for exhausting their options, but I do think
it’s in the best interest of St. Louis de Gonzague for this matter to
be concluded and this to be completed.’