Parishioners Locked Out of Church Due to Emotional Climate
As an ongoing battle between the Archdiocese and a number of churches in the City that have been slated to close, dedicated parishioners of one East Harlem church are attending mass whether or not there is a priest present. Read more about it after the jump.
About a hundred people gathered yesterday morning on the slushy sidewalk in front of Our Lady Queen of Angels, a small Roman Catholic church on East 113th Street that the Archdiocese of New York closed last week. The doors were locked, but parishioners and their supporters conducted an outdoor service, in Spanish and English, without a priest.
Nobody performed the sacraments, but the crowd sang hymns and recited the same readings heard yesterday in Catholic churches almost everywhere.
A week ago, a small group of parishioners occupied the East Harlem church, which the archdiocese was planning to close March 1, for about 28 hours.
They were hoping to keep Our Lady Queen of Angels open, but last Monday night, the archdiocese permanently locked the doors after six women were arrested when they refused to leave the pews.
During the service yesterday, the parishioners, from infants to people in their 80s, were bundled in hats and scarves. A young man held aloft a wooden cross decorated with a painting of the Virgin Mary. Some of the elderly sat on folding chairs, and television news trucks were crammed into a cul-de-sac in front of the church. Among those who addressed the crowd was City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito. She distributed a letter she wrote to Cardinal Egan, dated Friday, in which she said she was disturbed by the arrests and called upon the cardinal to meet with parishioners.
“What we are witnessing here today is not defiance,” she said at the rally. “What we’re witnessing is faith and love.”
After the church was closed, a notice appeared on the wooden front doors that said they had been locked because of the “emotional climate.” Yesterday, someone posted a response, which was addressed to Cardinal Egan and read in part, “Locking up these doors of our dearly beloved church is no way to deal with ‘emotions.’ ”
Source: New York Times :: Related: East Harlem Focus
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