By Dennis Sadowski
Sister Kate Kuenstler, a canon lawyer, had finished her talk about the rights of laypeople under Church canons when a man in the audience posed a question: How could he stop the bulldozers from tearing down his beloved church?
The question during the 2005 presentation in Ohio shocked Sr Kate, a member of the Poor Handmaids of Christ in Donaldson, Indiana. “I don’t know,” she hesitated.
Months later, Sr Kate was confronted with a similar plea, this time from a woman in New York. That’s when she began to connect the premise of her presentations with parishioner desires to keep their churches open.
A former marriage tribunal judge, catechist and schoolteacher, Sr Kate, 63, delved deeply into canon law. The more she read, the more she understood the steps required to suppress, or close, a parish. She began to see that bishops did not always follow canon law or were unaware of canons governing closures.
She made sure to cite the canons at issue in parishioner appeals to Vatican officials.
Sr Kate’s work quickly gained international attention, especially as Vatican officials upheld appeals based on her judiciously crafted arguments.
Her efforts on behalf of Cleveland parishioners in particular have been studied by canon lawyers and laypeople concerned about closings. Last March, the Congregation for Clergy ruled that Cleveland Bishop Lennon did not follow proper procedures in suppressing 11 parishes and instructed him to reopen them.
All the parishes are now open. Sr Kate practises canon law in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
What’s your background? I’m a farm girl from Wendelin, Illinois. I became an aspirant at 13. I’m now in my 44th year of religious life. Love every minute of it!
In 1989, while director of a diocesan Catholic education office, my community leadership asked me to study canon law to the doctoral level.
The community wanted to place sisters in areas of influence. I was the first person they asked to consider study to the doctoral level and they asked me to study canon law.
I finished my studies in Rome in 1995, and then worked as a tribunal judge for 11 years. In the meantime, I was invited to speak around the US on the rights of the laity found in canon law “Book 2: People of God”. People responded to that because no one had ever explained those rights to them.
How does canon law empower laypeople? If you look at Canon 212, it says not only is it a right, it’s a duty for the laity to tell their bishops, their sacred pastors, what their needs are, especially their spiritual needs, what their desires are, and to give their opinion on matters for the good of the Church.
Why become an advocate for laypeople’s rights? I caught on fire reading canon law. As I worked with the laity, I was meeting fabulous people.
There are thousands of committed laypeople who have faith beyond belief, who are the foundation of the Church. They are the Church, not an institution.
How did you come to work on parish closings? In 2006, I resigned as a tribunal judge. I was trying to figure out what else I could do as a canon lawyer.
A month later I got a phone call from a lady who asked me if I could help her save her church (St Mary Church, Jamesville, NY). I had no idea how to do that, but I told her I would help in any way I could.
The process took a long time. We presented documents to the Vatican. We lost at the Congregation for Clergy. But this parish wanted to appeal to the Apostolic Signature.
That case was the first case presented by laypeople to save their church that got a full hearing. For a long time, we didn’t know where it was in the system.
In 2011, parishioners won the case. On August 15, they had the first Mass in their church since 2007.
So this area of canon law is evolving? Yes.
Why would canon law not be followed when closing a parish? They didn’t know. Closing churches was new for them. Canon law explains that a parish is intended for the salvation of souls and while there are people in the parish, it’s assumed the parish will continue.
grave reason is required to relegate a church building to secular use.
They (bishops) ran it (the closing) by their presbyteral council (as canon law requires), but only after the fact.
That’s not the intent of canon law.
So a bishop must consult with the presbyteral council when a closing is first considered? That’s right. When things are done for the good of the people, when there is a rationale that people understand, closing’s OK.
But when you do things that challenge the soul of the people, it’s problematic.
Some dioceses are considering another round of downsizing. The consequence of their initial decisions is not being talked about.
When the bishop closes parishes, funnels people into one church building with one priest and provides no other assistance, the pastor now has more Masses, funerals, weddings.
The priest has more hospitals and homebound people to visit. The school can be at another site, so children have no access to Mass at the parish church or to the priest. These priests are having physical breakdowns.
Why is it important for laypeople to have a voice? It is their right. It’s as simple as that.
The Church gives them this right as a part of the understanding of who and what Church is. The laity are the bedrock of the Church.
They are the ones who live within the structure bishops make. They have the right to their opinion and their opinion is an educated one because they live it.
What is sad is for the most part the laity don’t know this. But people are telling each other.
There are more people watching the Cleveland situation than Cleveland ever dreamed.
People see it is possible to reopen their church. – CNS