A parish in the Greensburg, PA, diocese lost a court fight to stay open. The 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals refused their second appeal and all they have left is the Supreme Court, which is very unlikely to take it. What it says is that the courts are very reluctant to get into internal church matters such as the disposition of parishes. The legal situation is generally very clear. Parishes are in the name of the diocese or the bishop, not the parishioners, and so it is very difficult to get a court to side with the parishioners against the legal “owner.” Add to that separation of church and state issues and you’ll see why court fights are a long shot and only serve to make the lawyers richer.
