Parishioners ask for help saving Bolivar church

Parishioners on the Bolivar Peninsula are fighting for the survival of their Catholic church.

They've temporarily stopped the demolition of Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church in Port Bolivar, and they want an agreement with the Archdiocese to guarantee its future.

Parishioners in Port Bolivar are collecting memories, some old, some new, of their time spent at Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church.

"Brothers all lived here and worked in the church, and mama and daddy did. They worked hard," says Catherine Comeaux Johnson.

A church the Comeaux family and the community built more than 50 years ago. She says it took the Diocese only one day to begin tearing it down.

"Makes me feel sad. They shouldn't have done that. I didn't even know they'd torn it down till after," says Johnson.

"The whole town hurts," says John Dafonte.

Last week the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston gave an order to demolish the church. Crews got as far as Comeaux Hall before parishioners shut them down with an injunction.

They say water lines are just about the only damage to the inside. The pews are still intact, and outside, it's no worse than a few missing shingles.

"The diocese is avoiding meeting with us. They say we have nothing. It's their property, their church and we have no say," says Defonte.

"Just begging them. Want them to let us have the church. We'll buy it. They can give it to us, whatever," says Gloria Sievers.

These faithful members say they'll do anything to restore the church.

"People offered to do the work for nothing," says Johnson.

"We thought we were worshipping a church that would back us and they abandoned us," says Dafonte.

Parishioners say they just need a little help from the Archdiocese, so they wont lose their sanctuary.

"It's just not right. It's just not right," says Johnson.

"We need to stand up and fight them from here until we have no power left," says Dafonte.

Hoping someone will hear their prayers.

The Archdiocese believes it should have the final say on what happens to the church, and it's asking a federal court to agree.

The attorney for the parishioners is trying to get the case moved back down to a state district court.

Here is the press release from the Archdiocese Galveston-Houston:

The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston announced today that the state court lawsuit filed against it in connection with its demolition of buildings at Our Mother of Mercy Church in Port Bolivar, Texas, had been removed to the Galveston Division of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Removal is a means provided by federal law to transfer from state court to federal court those cases which arise under federal law.

Two Port Bolivar area parishioners of Our Mother of Mercy, which closed because of Hurricane Ike flooding, have asked a state court in Galveston to take sides in their disagreement with the Archdiocese about whether Mass should be conducted there  or at another location to be selected by church leadership. The Archdiocese contends that, by taking sides, the court must interfere with at least one side's "free exercise of religion" in violation of the First Amendment¹ and would, in fact, be "establishing" the prevailing side's religious view by court order. The Plaintiff's case, therefore, hinges on federal constitutional questions and belongs in a federal court.

Removing the case to federal court does not deprive anyone of any opportunity they had in state court to present their case, to make their arguments or to suggest alternatives to litigation, such as mediation. Removal simply transfers the dispute to a federal court, where greater expertise and competence exists to rule on the constitutional questions at the heart of the case.

Accordingly, asserting that the First Amendment prohibits courts from taking sides in this internal church dispute, the Archdiocese has accompanied its notice of removal with a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.  

Hurricane Ike struck a blow from which the Bolivar Peninsula - Galveston community will recover permanently changed.  Our local Catholic population is in the process of reordering itself around a realistic, post-storm assessment of the resources and needs of that changed community; and the changes at issue in this lawsuit are being made in the context of that broader reordering. We recognize that they are changes which are painful to parishioners of Our Mother of Mercy and others devoted to the Church's pre-storm arrangements; but they are the product of the broadest and most thoughtful process of dialogue which we could manage; and they are necessary to the future strength of the church in the area. Hopefully, the most difficult storm related consequence for the Bolivar Peninsula - the unavailability of the sacrifice of the Mass - will soon be alleviated by use of temporary accommodations at Crenshaw School, followed by construction of a permanent worship facility at Crystal Beach.

 ^1.         The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States begins with the words "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."  This language applies to the State of Texas, including Texas State Courts.