Vatican overrules Canadian bishop’s decision to close parish, again

The Vatican ruled that Archbishop Hundt did not provide a just cause for closing the parish.​

For the second time in 15 months the Vatican overturned a Canadian archbishop's decision to close a small parish, thus continuing a three-year dispute between parishioners and the archbishop.

Parishioners at Holy Rosary Parish in Portugal Cove-St. Philips, Newfoundland, announced earlier this week that the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy had once again overturned Archbishop Peter Hundt’s decision to close Holy Rosary and merge it with the nearby Holy Trinity parish.

This new decree continues a three-year saga that began after the archdiocese announced it would sell Holy Rosary Church and 17 of the archdiocese's other 34 parish properties in the midst of ongoing bankruptcy filing and court order to compensate victims of sexual abuse.

Holy Rosary parishioners protested and attempted to purchase the church.

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