The Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown has asked
Schuylkill County Court to allow it to dig up the graves of six priests
buried in front of now-closed St. Kieran's Church in Heckscherville and
rebury them in the neighboring cemetery.The petition, which was filed Thursday, is a prelude to a possible sale of the former church property to the community group Friends of St. Kieran's, Matthew T. Kerr, director of communications for the diocese, said Friday.
"We've been in negotiations for some time," Kerr said. "We can't sell a building with remains in front of it."
Kerr said he had no timetable for a possible sale of the church, which was a center of life in Schuylkill County's Irish Valley for almost 150 years before the diocese closed it in July 2008.
In the petition, the diocese alleged that under the Pennsylvania Code, either consent of the priests' next of kin or a court order is needed in order to remove and rebury the bodies.
"There are no known next of kin," according to the petition.
The six priests whose bodies the diocese is asking to rebury are the Rev. William M. Daly, the Rev. James McHugh, the Rev. Patrick McSwiggan, the Rev. Patrick O'Connor, the Rev. Charles D. Walsh and the Rev. Martin Walsh. All but the Rev. Charles Walsh died in the 1800s, according to the petition.
"We have done this in the past," Kerr said. "We moved them to a cemetery."
Kerr said he did not know if there would be some sort of ceremony when the priests' bodies are removed and reburied.
At least one former St. Kieran parishioner is happy that the priests' bodies will not leave the Irish Valley.
"I kind of always knew we couldn't stay open as a church. I would rather have them buried there in Heckscherville than move them," said Tina Skibiel, Heckscherville. "I don't know where they'd move them to. This way, they're not going to tear up the whole cemetery."
The priests whose bodies the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown wants to remove from in front of the former St. Kieran's Church, Heckscherville, and rebury in the nearby St. Kieran's Cemetery, and their years of death, include:
The Rev. William M. Daly, 1890
The Rev. James McHugh, 1875
The Rev. Patrick McSwiggan, 1885
The Rev. Patrick O'Connor, 1878
The Rev. Charles D. Walsh, 1969
The Rev. Martin Walsh, 1882