Bending Toward Justice

Bending Toward Justice tells the story of the rampant closings of Catholic parishes across the United States and documents the courageous advocacy of Sr. Kate Kuenstler and hundreds—indeed thousands—of ordinary Catholics whose persistence charted a new course in canon law. Sr. Kuenstler's expertise eventually gave increased leverage to the laity—and their parishes—in the struggle to preserve their parish homes, especially in ethnically diverse and poor neighborhoods. In 2012, after what Catholic pundit Rocco Palmo described as “the most ferocious and bitter parish planning face-off the Stateside church has seen in the last quarter century,” Rome ordered Cleveland’s Bishop Richard Lennon to re-establish 12 parishes he had wrongly closed and reopen their churches. It was an unprecedented victory. For the first time, Rome ordered a bishop to restore a large number of suppressed parishes as well as reopen their churches. The Vatican powerfully upheld the rights of Catholics in those parishes to have an appropriate voice in determining the future. This book offers an inside view into the wholesale closing of too many vibrant Catholic parishes in too many neighborhoods.