FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE 10, 2012

Atty. Victor M. Anop, spokesperson for Mater Dolorosa Church Parishioners, made the following announcement today: The loyal Polish-American parishioners of Mater Dolorosa Church have received word that their appeal to keep their church open has merit, and has been accepted by the Vatican Supreme Court for consideration after nearly a year of 24/7 prayer vigil, said Anop. The high court issued a decree on May 25,th recently reported to parishioners, that says that the parishioners ought to leave the church, and while the appeal is pending the Bishop of Springfield shall not sell or destroy the church, continued Anop. A majority of parishioners, said Anop, voted to honor the decree, and begin a withdrawal from the church on this Sunday fully expecting and trusting that: The Bishop will not try to remove the steeple of the church or damage it in any way during the appeal. The Bishop will not remove the altar, statues, paintings, organ, and decorations from Mater Dolorosa. The Bishop will consider granting weekly services, and prayer access to the church members during the day. On June 5, 2012, the City of Holyoke, after a long investigation, through its City Solicitor Atty. Elizabeth Rodriguez Ross directed the Bishops contractor, Lynn Scaffolding to remove the staging structure from the Mater Dolorosa Church IMMEDIATELY, said Anop. The city cited the decision of a Hampden Superior Court judge who ruled in October, 2011 that the steeple posed no imminent threat to the parishioners inside the church or the public, stated Anop.This well-written and researched decision bears out the belief that the scaffolding was erected by the contractor simply to wrongfully scare the faithful out of the church, continued Anop. The Bishop has not yet complied with the legal order of the City of Holyoke. We fully trust the good intentions of the Vatican Supreme Court, but we must continue to verify and monitor the Mater Dolorosa Church and its inside and outside property watching for vandalism and other intentional acts against the church and the Vatican decree, said Anop.

 The Mater Dolorosa parishioners have also voted to continue their Prayer Vigil services at another site, meet regularly to communicate important information, and plan activities to continue the wonderful new and Polish Catholic Community of Mater Dolorosa, said Anop. In addition, now that this internal dispute is in the hands Of Rome, perhaps the Diocese will finally publicly release or share privately all the financial documents promised to Mater Dolorosa Parishioners and myself by the Pastor Alex Cymerman on the first day of the vigil, June 30, 2011, concluded Anop. Afterall, there is no rational reason why the parishioners should be denied their financial data pertaining to the churchs budget so they can understand where specified gift contributions are going in light of mysterious decisionmaking on church closings, said Anop. I congratulate the parishioners of Mater Dolorosa who have been brought together by Prayer & belief, worked so hard to save their church and continue bringing attention to the undemocratic closing of 70 Springfield Diocese churches hurting and dividing hundreds of thousands Western Massachusetts Catholics. GOD BLESS AMERICA & THE UNITED POLISH-AMERICANS OF MATER DOLOROSA CHURCH, HOLYOKE, MASS, concluded Anop. For More information,contact: Atty. Victor M. Anop 536-4181

Friends of Mater Dolorosa