About 120 people have pledged to take turns occupying the church 24 hours a day.
Parish members at Mater Dolorosa celebrate the last Sunday Mass June 26. HOLYOKE – A group of parish members from Mater Dolorosa Church began a continuous vigil Thursday in the hopes of keeping their church open.
The church was to close after the last mass at 8 a.m. Thursday, but after the service, people decided to stay. They have plans to sleep in the church tonight, said Victor Anop, one of the vigil organizers whose family has been attending Mater Dolorosa for at least three generations.
About 120 people have pledged to take turns occupying the church 24 hours a day. They said they want answers from Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell, the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, about structural problems with the church as well as information about the church debt, said Anop, of Chicopee.
“We have plans to stay until our questions are answered,” he said.
The length of the vigil will also depend on the answers parish members get, he said.
Months ago the diocese announced plans to merge the parishes of Mater Dolorosa and Holy Cross and create a new church, Our Lady of the Cross, at the Holy Cross building on Sycamore Street. The Mater Dolorosa church will close but its school will continue to operate through the new parish.
About a month ago Mater Dolorosa parish members started discussing ways to keep their church open. They have appealed the decision to the Vatican and held a prayer vigil in protest in front of the bishop’s Springfield home.
The primary reason for the church closing is the number of Catholics in the city has dropped and they cannot support the six churches in the city. When deciding which buildings should close, the condition and location of the church buildings are among issues considered, said Mark E. Dupont, spokesman for the diocese.
The bishop will release the engineering report that shows there is serious structural damage to the steeple of the church, which was a factor in choosing to keep a different church open, Dupont said.
Church officials may also try to end the vigil by issuing a trespass order against the group, he said.
Dupont said the bishop has no intention to meet with any of the members who are involved in the vigil.
“We are not negotiating with them. Their behavior was beyond the scope of acceptable,” Dupont said, referring to the last Sunday Mass held at the church June 26.
A group of angry protesters greeted McDonnell when he tried to walk into the church and several interrupted his service, one yelling “Liar” when he talked about the reasons for closing the church.
“Before they place any demands, they need to be accountable for their actions,” he said. “They owe the community an apology and they owe the bishop an apology.”
This is a developing story; MassLive.com will have more details later today