Parishioner saves historic New York church after Vatican overturns closure ruling
Parishioner James Maver spearheaded efforts to overturn Cardinal Dolan’s closure decree of 135-year old Holy Trinity Church in Mamaroneck, NY. The Vatican granted relief after the case made it all the way to Holy See tribunal.
Parishioners at a small Westchester County church just got a miracle — straight from the Vatican.
The community had appealed to the Holy See to save their local Holy Trinity Church in Mamaroneck after Timothy Cardinal Dolan two years ago ordered that it be closed because of financial reasons.
Going over the cardinal’s head succeeded, as the Vatican came down on their side and Dolan last month rescinded his decree shuttering the house of worship, it was revealed Wednesday.
“It’s nothing short of a miracle,” James Maver, a parishioner and police officer involved in the squabble, told The Post on Wednesday.
The lifelong Mamaroneck resident fought for more than two years against the decision to close the church, along with and two other Holy Trinity parishioners, Terry O’Neill and Irene Dolan.
The decision to shutter the 135-year-old church was made “because of the immense financial burden to repair and to maintain the building,” as well as a “lack of parochial resources,” according to a pastoral letter issued by Dolan in February 2018.
The closure was “devastating” for many of the 300 families in the former Holy Trinity Church parish, said Maver.
The Vatican helped save the Holy Trinity Church in Mamaroneck from closing for good. (Google Street View)
Some went to other neighboring churches instead or stopped going at all, he said.
Worshipers believed the intent was to sell the building to the highest bidder. They argued that, though the church was more than a century old, it was structurally sound, and said it’s finances were in the black.
“We knew that the reasons cited in the decree were faulty so we appealed to the Vatican,” said Maver.
“It was such a long shot.”
They also believed the building should be preserved because it is historically significant. Their cause drew support from others in the village, with former mayor Norman Rosenblum telling LoHud in 2018 that “This building is an icon of the Village of Mamaroneck landscape.”
“It should be preserved. This structure and architecture could never be replaced,” Rosenblum added.
The trio of parishioners hired lawyers in Rome to plead their case to the Holy See.
They started a GoFundMe to fund their appeal, raising more than $5,000, though Maver said they need more funds for legal and other expenses.
A Vatican-appointed priest assigned to oversee the case recently ruled that the arguments put forth by the parishioners had merit, Maver said.
Then, last month, Dolan wrote in a decree that, “after prayerful consideration, having weighed all the reasons and causes” he had decided to rescind the 2018 ruling closing the church.
The new decree cited the coronavirus as one of the reasons for reopening the house of worship, saying the pandemic “continues to have severe consequences for the pastoral life in this Archdiocese of New York.”
The outcome was “one in a million,” Maver said.
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“The Vatican usually gives [archdioceses] carte blanche to do whatever they want,” but, Maver said, “we proved our case.”
The church will now be overseen by the pastor of St. Vito-Most Holy Trinity Parish and a parish administrator, Maver said.
In a news release announcing their victory, the faithful said they are now working to create a nonprofit that would raise funds to pay for all of the church’s future expenses, so as not to burden the archdiocese or the parish.
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“It is hoped that this effort will inspire others to take financial responsibility for other historic Catholic churches,” the statement said, “in order that the sacred spaces our ancestors built may continue to spiritually enrich the lives of future generations of Catholics.”
Neither the archdiocese nor the parish immediately returned a request for comment.
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