A little talking to friends around the archdiocese and Salem gives me some more information about parish closings. It seems that St. Joseph’s wasn’t the only parish in Salem to be notified that it was being add to the “in consideration” list. So was St. John the Baptist Polish church, which is ironic considering that many people think that it should be the first parish closed and because their leadership was so manipulative of the process in the cluster. They thought they were in the free and clear and now they’re scrambling. However, I doubt that three parishes in Salem will close (St. John the Baptist will probably stay open while other Polish parishes in the area close.) Still, it’s a well due wake-up call.
As for other information I’ve gotten: The announcement date of May 25 may be chosen for a very specific reason. It is two days after the ordination Mass and it prevents busloads of angry parishioners from descending on the Cathedral during the ceremony.
Also, the Presbyteral Council has no veto authority over parish closings. Canon law says the archbishop has to present the name of a parish proposed to be closed to the council three times, but sole discretion for closure rests with the archbishop. To me, that means the final list has already been compiled. However, it doesn’t mean that the council will be seeing just the names on the final list. Say there were 40 parishes closing. The archbishop could give them a list of 80 names022
Here’s the list, Dom. As dumb luck would have it, HTC is at the top of the list.