Monongahela church closing appeal to be heard by Commonwealth Court
Commonwealth Court has agreed to hear an appeal next month of a Washington County Court ruling that dismissed a lawsuit filed in an attempt to reopen a Roman Catholic church in Monongahela.
The appeal will be heard May 6 in Pittsburgh regarding the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh’s decision to close St. Anthony Church in 2014 as diocesan leaders dealt with a priest shortage and declining members, attorney Joe Dalfonso, whose firm represents the congregants, confirmed Thursday.
They went before Washington County President Judge Katherine B. Emery after the Vatican’s highest court upheld the closure in 2016.
The lawsuit sought an injunction to prevent the sale of the church building at Park Avenue and Chess Street, and it alleged unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud and conversion.
The lawsuit claimed the decision to close St. Anthony instead of the nearby Transfiguration Church was fraudulent because St. Anthony was in much better condition and better suited for the needs of the parish.
Emery dismissed the case while agreeing with attorneys for the diocese who argued the state court wasn’t the proper venue to decide a question of canon law.
A notice of appeal was filed in late November 2017 with Superior Court, which transferred the case last August to Commonwealth Court because, “the underlying matter involves the Diocese of Pittsburgh, a nonprofit charitable organization.”
An appeal of a similar decision regarding St. Agnes Church in Richeyville will also be heard May 6, Dalfonso said.
The appeals will be heard at 1 p.m. in the state Supreme Court’s chambers in the Pittsburgh City-Council Building, he said.