St

St. Mary's Church

P.O. Box 441

Jamesville, NY 13078

August 26, 2008

Most Rev. Raymond L. Burke

Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura

Piazza della Concellaria 1

00186 Rome, Italy

Re: St. Mary's, Jamesville, NY, USA -Hierarchical Recourse in response to the Congregations for the Clergy August 5,2008 Decree (Prot. N. 20082142)

Dear Most Rev. Raymond L. Burke:

The purpose of this letter is to formally appeal the August 5, 2008 Decree (Prot. N. 20082142] issued by the Congregation for the Clergy, postmarked August 18, 2008 (Attachment 1). We believe there has been a gross miscarriage of justice.

We respectfully request your consideration of the following:

a) In St. Mary's June 2005 first year report written by Administrator Fr. Finnegan, St. Mary's parishioners were informed that, "St Mary's would become a mission of Holy Cross with Fr. Yeazel as its administrator." This report also stated, "St. Mary's will not lose its own identity and that is something that is now assured whereas it was not assured before" (Attachment 2). In Fr. John Finnegan's September 17, 2005 weekly letter to parishioners he notified St. Mary's parishioners of the diocesan plans to become a " Mission" of Holy Cross. In this letter he stated that by virtue of this alteration in status, St. Mary's "is in very good hands, has a bright future and will be a place of worship for years to come" (Attachment 3). In a letter dated May 25,2006, Vicar for Parishes, Rev. James P. Lang stated that Bishop Moynihan accepted the recommendation of the Presbyteral council and authorized that St. Mary's become a mission of Holy Cross Parish in Dewitt as of October 1, 2006 (Attachment 4). This alteration of status was welcomed and confirmed our belief that our viable existence would continue. If suppression is what the Syracuse Diocese intended, they did not state their intent in the May 25,2006 letter. We were not informed that St Mary's was suppressed in May 2006 and therefore did not file an appeal at that time. The first time St. Mary's parishioners learned that St Mary's was suppressed by becoming a mission in 2006, was when we received the August 5, 2008

Decree from the Congregation for the Clergy. Historically, missions remained operational for years in the Syracuse Diocese and did not portend suppression or closure. It is simply a status where two parishes share one pastor and is not synonymous with suppression or parish closures. Precedent was set when St. Mary's experienced "Mission" arrangements at least twice in their 100+ year history. For this reason, when St. Mary's was told of their mission status in 2006, it was simply considered a change in status. This was acceptable because we are a viable community. Once St. Mary's learned we were closing in 2007, an appeal was submitted in a timely fashion to the Vatican. We believe there has been a gross miscarriage of justice to dismiss this appeal for un-timeliness.

b) In the August 5,2008 Decree, The Congregation for the Clergy concluded in item #14 that "The Bishop indicated, at least in summary fashion, the reasons for his actions, and they are sufficient" and referred to Bishop Moynihan's April 4, 2007 letter (attachment 5]. We strongly question this conclusion. In the April 4, 2007 letter, Bishop Moynihan suggests "sweeping demographic changes and limited human and financial resources" as the reason for closure. The changes in demographics for St. Mary's located in Jamesville have been on a very positive trend and our parish is financially solvent in terms of both liquidity and tangible assets. The laity of St. Mary's has responded directly to Bishop Moynihan's 2001 Pastoral Care letter, negating the limited human resource factor. The most fundamental right of a parish in canon law is the right to come into existence, be acknowledged and continue its existence. We understand canonically that a shortage of priests alone is not an adequate reason to suppress parishes. To be suppressed, the impossibility of continued life must be clearly demonstrated. St Mary's, is a financially viable, active parish in a growing area (Attachment 6). St Mary's met or exceeded the diocesan Indices For Parish Life. In Fr. John Finnegan's September 17, 2005 weekly letter he says, "I don't know of any parish which has the level of commitment and volunteerism that is much the hallmark of the fine parish and community of good and faith-filled people." Throughout the appeal process the St. Mary's community continues to remain viable. There are also many active and retired priests who continue to offer to minister to St. Mary's parishioners but are not permitted by the Bishop, at this time. We believe that there has been an even greater miscarriage of justice because the reasons given for closure by the Bishop do not correspond to the facts of the case and are insufficient for closure.

c) In item #17 of the August 5, 2008 Decree, the Dicastery found that "certainty is difficult to attain". For this reason, we respectfully wish to appoint an advocate from the Vatican approved advocate list in order to assist in concisely presenting our case. We respectfully request a list of the Vatican approved list of advocates.

We would be happy to provide all correspondences and attachments previously submitted to the Congregation for the Clergy. Please advice if you wish us to do so.

Please provide us of the cost of filing this appeal to the Apostolic Signatura and any other procedures we must follow.

We thank you in advance for your thoughtful consideration.

Sincerely in Christ,

Mark A. Donnelly

KATHLEEN E. LO

Notary Public, State of.

Onon. County

Lie. #01L05019831

Comm. Exp. Nov. 1,20

Cc: Archbishop Pietro Sambi - Apostolic Nuncio