After the February 14, 2010 meeting, parishoners of St. Emeric Church completed letters to be sent seeking help in keeping St. Emeric Church from being closed. The following letters were sent. You can download a Word document with the letters here. (If you are interested in sending your own letters, instructions for sending them and the addresses to send them to are given at the end of this page.

* * *

Archbishop Pietro Sambi

Papal Nuncio to the United States

3339 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C.  20008-3687

February 28, 2010

Your Excellency Archbishop Sambi,

I am writing to you as a parishioner of St. Emeric Church in Cleveland, Ohio under the Diocese of Cleveland.  As you are most probably aware, we are under an Appeal process to Rome to request that the impending closing date of June 30, 2010 be suspended or cancelled.  As a parishioner and one who has kept abreast of the reasons cited by Bishop Lennon for the closing in general, I cannot fully comprehend our near future fate.

  We are a community which has fulfilled the three requirements set by Bishop Lennon to stay open: adequate parishioners, sufficient finances and a priest.  It grieves me to think that a spiritual leader will not grant us the continuance of our spiritual life within our own spiritual home.  The upheaval which this process has caused from its inception has taken a toll on my spirituality as well as many in our parish.  Our thoughts have been distracted for years because of the punishment of closing and forever banning us from our own spiritual home.

I am not indifferent to the reasons for the closings.  I support the plan in general for the closings where they are needed.  I am fully cognizant of the loss of Catholics in this Diocese, mostly because of demographics and the need to reign in the churches for financial efficiency.  I do not doubt the efficacy of that plan.  I doubt the reasoning behind the closing of my parish, as well as a few others in Cleveland who are under appeal, because my parish’s existence now or in the future will not hurt any other parish because of the uniqueness. 

As I plead for our future, I cite first and foremost the need to continue to accommodate the congregation who experience the Mass and other sacraments through the Hungarian language at St. Emeric’s.  The question of language is also manifested by the adjacent building which houses the young scouts who conduct everything in the Hungarian language and whom we cultivate into our spiritual life through their culture.  They are objectively a separate entity - leasing the building from the Diocese. But they are part of US – our children, our grand children, our great grandchildren! We cannot separate ONE man from his language, culture and faith.  These are embedded in him.  To rip these entities out at this time would be no less than destroying that ONE human being.  This is what I am asking you to help us avoid. 

As a parishioner, I ask that you give careful and prolonged consideration to the continued existence of our beloved church and allow us to continue our Christian lifestyle within the walls of St. Emeric.

Most sincerely,

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

* * *

Archbishop Mauro Piacenza

Secretary of the Congregation of Clergy

Palazzo delle Congregazioni

Piazza Pio XII, 3

00193 Rome, Italy

February 28, 2010

Your Excellency  Archbishop Piacenza,

I am writing to you as a parishioner of St. Emeric Church in Cleveland, Ohio under the Diocese of Cleveland.  As you are most probably aware, we are under an Appeal process to Rome to request that the impending closing date of June 30, 2010 be suspended or cancelled.  As a parishioner and one who has kept abreast of the reasons cited by Bishop Lennon for the closing in general, I cannot fully comprehend our near future fate.

  We are a community which has fulfilled the three requirements set by Bishop Lennon to stay open: adequate parishioners, sufficient finances and a priest.  It grieves me to think that a spiritual leader will not grant us the continuance of our spiritual life within our own spiritual home.  The upheaval which this process has caused from its inception has taken a toll on my spirituality as well as many in our parish.  Our thoughts have been distracted for years because of the punishment of closing and forever banning us from our own spiritual home.

I am not indifferent to the reasons for the closings.  I support the plan in general for the closings where they are needed.  I am fully cognizant of the loss of Catholics in this Diocese, mostly because of demographics and the need to reign in the churches for financial efficiency.  I do not doubt the efficacy of that plan.  I doubt the reasoning behind the closing of my parish, as well as a few others in Cleveland who are under appeal, because my parish’s existence now or in the future will not hurt any other parish because of the uniqueness. 

As I plead for our future, I cite first and foremost the need to continue to accommodate the congregation who experience the Mass and other sacraments through the Hungarian language at St. Emeric’s.  The question of language is also manifested by the adjacent building which houses the young scouts who conduct everything in the Hungarian language and whom we cultivate into our spiritual life through their culture.  They are objectively a separate entity - leasing the building from the Diocese. But they are part of US – our children, our grand children, our great grandchildren! We cannot separate ONE man from his language, culture and faith.  These are embedded in him.  To rip these entities out at this time would be no less than destroying that ONE human being.  This is what I am asking you to help us avoid. 

As a parishioner, I ask that you give careful and prolonged consideration to the continued existence of our beloved church and allow us to continue our Christian lifestyle within the walls of St. Emeric.

Most sincerely,

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

* * *

Cardinal Francis George, OMI

President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

3211 Fourth Street, N.E.

Washington, D.C.  20017

February 28, 2010

Your Excellency  Cardinal George,

I am writing to you as a parishioner of St. Emeric Church in Cleveland, Ohio under the Diocese of Cleveland.  As you are most probably aware, we are under an Appeal process to Rome to request that the impending closing date of June 30, 2010 be suspended or cancelled.  As a parishioner and one who has kept abreast of the reasons cited by Bishop Lennon for the closing in general, I cannot fully comprehend our near future fate.

  We are a community which has fulfilled the three requirements set by Bishop Lennon to stay open: adequate parishioners, sufficient finances and a priest.  It grieves me to think that a spiritual leader will not grant us the continuance of our spiritual life within our own spiritual home.  The upheaval which this process has caused from its inception has taken a toll on my spirituality as well as many in our parish.  Our thoughts have been distracted for years because of the punishment of closing and forever banning us from our own spiritual home.

I am not indifferent to the reasons for the closings.  I support the plan in general for the closings where they are needed.  I am fully cognizant of the loss of Catholics in this Diocese, mostly because of demographics and the need to reign in the churches for financial efficiency.  I do not doubt the efficacy of that plan.  I doubt the reasoning behind the closing of my parish, as well as a few others in Cleveland who are under appeal, because my parish’s existence now or in the future will not hurt any other parish because of the uniqueness. 

As I plead for our future, I cite first and foremost the need to continue to accommodate the congregation who experience the Mass and other sacraments through the Hungarian language at St. Emeric’s.  The question of language is also manifested by the adjacent building which houses the young scouts who conduct everything in the Hungarian language and whom we cultivate into our spiritual life through their culture.  They are objectively a separate entity - leasing the building from the Diocese. But they are part of US – our children, our grand children, our great grandchildren! We cannot separate ONE man from his language, culture and faith.  These are embedded in him.  To rip these entities out at this time would be no less than destroying that ONE human being.  This is what I am asking you to help us avoid. 

As a parishioner, I ask that you give careful and prolonged consideration to the continued existence of our beloved church and allow us to continue our Christian lifestyle within the walls of St. Emeric.

Most sincerely,

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

Instructions for sending your own letters:

If you are sending a pack of letters addressed to Archbishop Sambi, merely put them in an envelope (or box). Include a cover letter telling him that the enclosed letters are intended for him and for his file. Write a short summary (two sentences) so that the cover letter establishes a relationship to the attachments. The Nuncio’s address is:

His Excellency Pietro Sambi

Apostolic Nuncio

Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See

3339 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20008

If you are sending a pack of letters to the Congregation for the Clergy, put them in an envelope or box (depending on volume) and address the envelope or box to:

His Excellency Mauro Piacenza                                                  

Secretary

The Congregation for the Clergy

00120 Cittá del Vaticano

Seal the envelope or the box. Write a cover letter to Archbishop Sambi, addressed to him as above. In this letter inform him who you are in this correspondence and explain to him that you would like him to forward the package to Archbishop Piacenza. Also attach a sample letter and explain that it is a “form letter” signed by individuals. The copy you are giving him is for his files. This letter should be placed in an addressed but unsealed envelope, with the flap folded into the envelope. After this, place the entire package into a box, addressed to Archbishop Sambi as above. Do not include this package with the package that is intended for Archbishop Sambi alone.