Sunday, May 13, 2007

Priest Asks Vatican To Let Him Stay In Parish

The Rev. Thomas Leyland (pic'd here), who says he is being forced to retire as punishment for publicly criticizing Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair, is asking the Vatican to intercede and let him stay on as pastor of St. Rose Parish in Perrysburg.

"If there is any impression that I plan to accept the bishop's decision without contesting, let me assure you that is not the case. In conscience, I cannot accept this injustice without an appeal," Father Leyland wrote in this weekend's church bulletin.

The 69-year-old priest, who was ordained in the Toledo Catholic Diocese in 1965, said he consulted a canon lawyer who "assured me that I have cause to appeal to Rome."

Father Leyland was in Massillon, Ohio, yesterday conducting a funeral and unavailable for comment, according to his brother-in-law and St. Rose parishioner, retired military judge Joe Garn.

Mariester Pavlica, 66, one of St. Rose's 8,100 parishioners and a friend of Father Leyland's since 1956, said the priest is seeking the intervention from Rome out of concern for his parishioners.

"It lets the people know that they have a voice too, and Father hears their voice. He's not just disregarding all the parishioners," Mrs. Pavlica said. "And if it doesn't help him, it may help someone further down the road. The truth is very important to him, and he feels that people are owed the truth."

Mr. Garn said that "most people are cynical about the politics of the Vatican and believe his chances are slim. But ... it appears to me that it should be a no-brainer in his favor."

Sally Oberski, director of communications for the diocese, said she "has not received any particulars about what Father Leyland has done or what he plans to do."

Several canon lawyers said yesterday that when a priest seeks what is known as "administrative recourse" with the Vatican, he normally would continue in his present post until Rome issues a ruling. That could take a year or two, according to Kelly O'Donnell, a canon lawyer in San Diego.

Benjamin Nguyen, a canon lawyer and chancellor of the Diocese of LaCrosse, Wis., said bishops have other options available, including placing a priest on administrative leave pending the Vatican's decision.

The Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy, the cabinet that oversees such cases, would look only at whether the bishop properly followed canon law - the rules that govern the Roman Catholic Church - according to the Rev. Tom Reese, a Catholic priest and senior fellow at Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University in Washington.

"It's not unheard of at all" for the Congregation for Clergy to rule in favor of priests and overturn a bishop on procedural grounds, Father Reese said.

"A lot of canon law was written to protect priests from arbitrary decisions of bishops," he said.

However, if the Vatican does overturn a bishop's decision on procedural error, the bishop usually "starts all over and then follows proper procedures," Father Reese said. The end result is the same as originally intended, only delayed, he said.

Father Leyland, a Perrysburg native, is the older brother of Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland.

The dispute between Father Leyland and Bishop Blair arose in April, 2005, when the Toledo Catholic Diocese announced that a new parish, Blessed John XXIII, would be created next to St. Rose in Wood County.

Father Leyland told The Blade at the time that he was shocked when he saw how much the boundaries for Blessed John cut into St. Rose's territory and that he could lose as many as 425 families to the start-up parish.

He said he and the parish council were not consulted sufficiently, even though the new church's boundaries had a deep impact on his church and the church school.

"The bishop has made some high-handed decisions with almost no collaboration with anyone," he said at the time.

Father Leyland sent a letter to parishioners in February saying Bishop Blair had told him "pastoring St. Rose is too burdensome for me personally," but, he said, "it would be misleading to give the impression that I am happy with and/or agree with Bishop Blair's judgment in this matter."

Rather than accept assignment to St. Caspar Parish in Wauseon, Father Leyland chose to retire effective July 2. Bishop Blair announced last month that the Rev. David Nuss would succeed him at St. Rose.

Ms. Oberski previously described Bishop Blair's decision not to extend Father Leyland's term at St. Rose as a routine pastoral move and "not meant to be a negative reflection on Father Leyland ... nor is it simply a reaction to past criticism."

She pointed out Father Leyland served two years beyond his six-year appointment since assignment to St. Rose in 1999.

Father Leyland called her comments "misleading" and said the bishop decided not to renew his pastorate at St. Rose long before such decisions are routinely announced.

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