A score of parishioners began a protest vigil inside a 120-year-old Roman Catholic church in East Harlem yesterday and vowed to stay until the Archdiocese of New York reverses its decision to close the parish as part of a broad reorganization.
The protest at Our Lady Queen of Angels apparently took the church and the archdiocese by surprise, but the police were not called and there was no other response — and no indication that the archdiocese would retreat. A spokesman for the archdiocese said he had no particulars on the protest.
At another church closed by the archdiocese yesterday, Our Lady of the Rosary in Yonkers, which has served many Portuguese immigrants and their descendants, 10 parishioners began a sit-in after the last Mass. The police were called and all but two left after a warning. The two who refused were arrested for trespassing, a violation, and were released after being issued desk appearance tickets. One, Michael Costa, 19, of Yonkers, later showed up at the East Harlem church and spoke to the protesters.
Since the archdiocese announced last month that 21 churches would close or merge with others in the 405-parish, 10-county archdiocese, to address demographic changes and a shortage of priests, some Catholics have dug in for a fight. They have planned protests and enlisted help from advocates who have resisted church closings in Boston. Parishioners from Our Lady Queen of Angels staged a march two weeks ago.
Yesterday at Our Lady Queen of Angels, a gracefully peaked red-brick edifice on East 113th Street, between Second and Third Avenues, the band of protesters remained behind after the last Mass. They huddled together in the back pews in the soft light filtering through stained-glass images of the saints. They sang hymns in Spanish, recited Hail Marys and discussed the tactics of a protracted occupation, focusing on door locks, food supplies, blankets and other logistics.
And on their passions for their church. “People have been baptized here and married here, received first communion here, been confirmed here,” said Carmen Villegas, 52, a parishioner for 33 years and a protest leader who said the closing of Our Lady Queen of Angels had been set for March 1. “We’re going to stay in prayer,” she said. “When they close the church, we are going to stay inside.”
Carmen Fascio, 51, a nurse who has attended the church for 35 years, urged the protesters not to respond to anyone who disapproved of their action, especially anyone who offered a provocation. “When people come with aggression,” she said, “we have to take a very passive role.”
Jose M. Grajales, a lawyer for the protesters, said that even though the closing was still weeks away, church officials had changed the locks on the front door over the weekend, “like a thief in the night,” as he put it. The protesters decided to begin their vigil now to avoid being shut out later, he said.
Like members at other churches assigned for closing, those at Our Lady Queen of Angels have been fiercely protective of their parish, often forming attachments that last for generations. The church was founded in 1886, first serving German and later Italian immigrants. Today, its members include Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Mexicans and Ecuadorans. Some acknowledged that attendance had dwindled in recent years to fewer than 400 people.
Margarita Darada, 81, who has attended the church for 54 years, brought sandwiches and cake for the protesters and declared: “I’m going to defend my church. I want to see this door open. It cannot be closed. Why pick on Queen of Angels? Why pick on this lonely church that serves the community? It’s a sacred fight.”
The start of the vigil was observed by the pastor, the Rev. Gerard Mulvey, clad in a cowled brown friar’s robe with a white rope belt, who had no comment but who locked the front door and asked the protesters to leave by a side door with a one-way lock. It was overseen by Peter Borré, a Harvard-educated activist who spent his working career on energy issues in the private sector and government.
Mr. Borré, 68, co-chairman of a Catholic group in Boston called the Council of Parishes, has helped organize vigils to resist church closings in the Boston area, aiding in four church occupations that he said have lasted for 28 months. He told the East Harlem protesters to bring sleeping bags, sweat clothes and other items for a long siege, and spoke of around-the-clock church vigils as an effective tactic.
“It becomes a rallying point for the local parishioners to resort to direct action, to save their parish,” Mr. Borré said. “The vigil creates the breathing room, the space in time, to push on three other fronts.” The other fronts, he said, were appeals to the Vatican, civil lawsuits and arousing public awareness.
Mr. Borré has been in touch with parishioners at Mary Help of Christians in the East Village, another parish set to be closed about March 1. It was unclear if members of that parish also intended to mount an occupation.
Ms. Villegas said the Queen of Angels protesters had sent a letter to Cardinal Edward M. Egan asking him to reverse the decision to close their parish and informing him of their vigil. “We caution the archdiocese of New York,” the letter said, “to consider very carefully whether it will imprison its own parishioners for engaging in a prayerful vigil.” A copy was sent to the 23rd police precinct in East Harlem.
Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said the letter had not been received and that he had no information on the protest at Our Lady Queen of Angels, and could not address questions about possible responses. But he said the parish, like others designated for realignments, had been given ample opportunity to be heard in what he called “an incredibly detailed and lengthy process” of reviews over several years. “Everyone had a chance to have their say as part of that process,” he said.
David Gibson, a journalist and author who writes frequently about religion, said yesterday that he saw little prospect of a successful prolonged protest against the New York Archdiocese closings. The closings in Boston closings came amid “an almost perfect storm” of anger over priest sex-abuse scandals. In New York, the closings were decided with “much greater care” and over a much longer time, he said.
Colin Moynihan contributed reporting.
New York Times, Feb
