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What's PlayingBazaarsNov. 21
St. Stanislaus School benefit, 9 to 4 in Kolbe Hall, Adams. Bake sale, snack bar, games, Chinese auctions, money raffle, crafts, and pierogi.
Blackinton Union Church, 1373 Massachusetts Ave., North Adams; 10 to 2. Crafts table, bake sale, Chinese auction, the Christmas table, and kid's grab bag. Lunch $4, $2 kids.
First Congregational Church, North Adams, 9-2.
Nov. 28
Becket Federated Church, Route 8, holiday bazaar from 9-3. Lunch, crafts, baked goods, holiday and other items. Information: Mary Peltier, Parish House, 413-623-5217.
Dec. 5
Holiday Fair at First Congregational Church, 25 Park Place, Lee, from 10 to 3; handcrafted items, raffles, children's shop, bake sale, cut Christmas trees and lunch from 11 to 1. Includes angel-themed goods from SERRV. Information, 413-243-1033 or www.ucc-lee.org.
Dec. 12-13
North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Information: Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.
Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here. |
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St. Stan's Pins Prayers on Mediation RequestBy Tammy Daniels
iBerkshires Staff
12:59AM / Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Irene Cwalinski has been participating in the St. Stan's vigil twice a week for 15 weeks. |
ADAMS, Mass. — Irene Cwalinski has been coming twice a week for the past 15 weeks to sit for a few hours in the chilly air of a closed church.
She's been attending St. Stanislaus Kostka for decades. She's not ready to join another parish. She's still hoping the historic church will be saved.
"It's like the bishop tore the hearts out of the people here, the parishioners," she said, tearing up as she spoke of her church. "It's like our second home and he took it away from us."
For 103 days, some 200 steadfast members of St. Stan's have been mounting a round-the-clock vigil to prevent the dismantlement of the church their forefathers built at the turn of the last century. They've appealed to Rome, and were told this week that their plea would be extended until May 14.
But the "vigilers" are pinning their hopes on a 22-page document submitted to the Vatican along with 30 other parish groups in eight dioceses across the country fighting to keep their churches open.
The "request for mediation" petition was hand-delivered in Rome to the Vatican's undersecretary for relations for state by Peter Borre, founder of the grassroots Council on Parishes, on Tuesday. Borre, of Charlestown, emerged as a leader in the battle to prevent the Archdiocese of Boston from closing parishes in the wake of the sex-abuse scandal.
The petition urges the secretariat of state to instruct the Vatican Curia to suspend reviews of parish closings and order the American bishops to suspend parish closing decrees. Instead, a mediator would work with the parishioners and bishops to create a dialogue that, vigilers hope, will keep the affected parishes open.
"This will usher in a creative and constructive solution to this very serous problem that's occuring today in the church," said Laurie Haas, a St. Stan's member who's shepherded the now closed parish through the appeals process. "The framework for mediation could bring about resolution of our current situation here at St. Stan's, so this is very exciting news."
St. Stan's was closed in a sweeping consolidation of parishes throughout the Springfield Diocese. The Polish parish was combined with the previously yoked Notre Dame-St. Thomas to create the Parish of Pope John Paul the Great at a renamed Notre Dame.
St. Stan's Parish was stunned by the announcement, citing its healthy financial situation, historical significance, attached school and active congregation. Vowing not to give up easily, they mounted the vigil days before the church was scheduled to close, joining five parishes entering their fourth year and fifth vigil years in the Boston area.
The number of parishes fighting closure is growing. "It's nationwide, we're a movement," said Eugene Michalenko, not entirely joking.
 Hank Tomcowicz talks to CBS3 about the vigil; right, Eugene Michalenko. |
The mediation request, said Haas, offers "concrete solutions" along with statistics that should give the Vatican pause, including that more than a third of Boston Catholics stop attending church within a year of closings. More are beginning neo-Catholic communities outside of Rome's influence.
Petitioners say failure of the Catholic Church to treat equitably with them will only result in increased alienation, protests, schismatics and lawsuits. "Docility in the pews," vigilers said in a statement, "is a thing of the past."
The groups are saying "the Vatican should step in and prevent bishops from basically wrecking the Catholic Church in America by shutting down viable parishes," Borre told The Associated Press from Rome.
At St. Stan's, people lined up to be interviewed by local television stations, in hopes that their frustration and sorrow will be understood. A local petition formulated by a non-member of St. Stan's addressing its historic and artistic significance is beginning to make the rounds in Berkshire County.
"This request is a last resort because of the likelihood of across-the-board denials by the Vatican's highest court of nine pending appeals from Boston parishes," Michalenko read from a statement at a press conference in the church on Tuesday. "And a possible future decision by the cardinal-archbishop of Boston to resort to police to clear five churches currently in vigil."
The possibility of being forcibly removed from St. Stan's has been on parishioners' minds despite assurances by the diocese that no action would be taken. Two New Orleans churches were cleared in early January after 10-week vigils.
Haas and Michalenko don't know how fast the response will be to the request, but they're hoping it will leapfrog years of appeals that may well go nowhere.
"We're trying to be proactive and keep the lines of communication open," said Michalenko.
In addition to Adams and Boston, the other groups are in Allentown and Scranton Pa., Buffalo, N.Y, Cleveland, New Orleans and New York City. |
| well spoken,commentors should be able to seperate the two,with the knowledge that the higher ups in the diocese not only know it is/was wrong,but are closing the more ornate(read:steeped in heritage,usually ethnic) churches with the goal of pillaging these churches of their artwork and statuary to settle up the lawsuits that keep piling up...did you know their is an actual website for the sale of church items? no lie,its kinda like a 'holy ebay'..cant remember the site name but i linked to it once and you would NOT believe it... stained glass windows at like 7000 or so ...pages and pages of it.... | | from: micky | on: 04-15-2009 |
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| Why bring the molestation that has been committed by the priest's into the people wanting to save St. Stan's church?!? YES it's absolutely horrible that so many innocent children have been violated and each and every one of the offenders should pay for their crimes against the children. It was not the people of St. Stan's who committed those crimes, and how do YOU know how they felt and wether or not they didn't speak out against it??? The people of St. Stan's have the right to fight for their church they shouldn't be punished or accused because of what has happened and what the catholic church chose to cover up, YES IT WAS and IS WRONG!! but it has nothing to do with the people trying to save their church and their traditions! | | from: Kraz | on: 04-15-2009 |
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| GREAT! | | from: Looking On! | on: 04-15-2009 |
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The lady who said," it's like tearing her heart out to have to leave her church", certainly didn't pay any attention to the Lord when He in the Scriptures says "do not put your Faith in things."
This woman and many others of the same thinking ,fail to be grateful for living in a free country where we can say and do the things that are on our minds, without being put to death or imprisoned for our thoughts.I say,
"feel those feelings for the sexually abused children that have been groomed and raped by Roman Catholic Priests, rather than a building ,no matter how much it means to you." God's creation is what is important. Where is your OUTRAGE ABOUT THE SEXUALLY ABUSED CHILDREN? One priest can groom and abuse at least 100's of children in his life as representing Christ here on earth. Multiply that one, for all the priests all over the world and from the MIDDLE of the 1st century. The RCC is a HAVEN FOR PEDOPHILE PRIESTS. Get your priorities straight from the Scriptures and you'll know what Jesus would do. | | from: Glorybe1929 | on: 04-09-2009 |
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www.bishop-accountability.org/abusetracker for daily verified & vetted reporting on the USCCB (Unremoved Sexual Criminal Cabal Bishops) & the Roman "La Cosa Nostra" Global Pedo Curia.
The Solution? "STOP DONATING LAITY!" as St. Peter Damien correctly asserted.
The Miters & Red Hats are the CAUSE of the ongoing sexual abuse of children, in the many hundreds of thousands (documented), which is directly related to these massive number of parish closings across the USA (on top of no new priests, because no one wants to awear an oath of obedience to pedo enablers, perpetrators, aid & abettors, obstructors of justice, perjurers, endangerers and pedo racketeers).
Edmund Burke reminds each of us: "The only condition for the triumph of evil is for good men (or women) to do nothing!"
To date over $4.8 BILLION LAITY OFFETORY PLATE DOLLARS have been stolen and diverted to the pedo cover up, plus billions more in squandered, shuttered and sold of laity paid for assets.
No Removal & Harsh Punishment Of Criminals Like O'Malley, Law, Mahony, George, Egan, McCarrick, DiNardo, Leveda, McCormack, Hughes, Hubbard, Brown, Rivera, Chaput, Gregory, Pell, Hummes, Scola, Sodano, Re, Bertone, Sambi, Keeler, Foley, Maida, Brom, Rigali, Schonborn, etc.?
NO LAITY MONIES!
It Is THAT Simple!
Fiat Lux & Veritas!
Albino Luciani,
MURDERED POPE
| | from: Albino Luciani | on: 04-08-2009 |
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