A Roman Catholic church in Chicopee closed by the Springfield Diocese in 2009 is scheduled to start celebrating a weekly Mass again a year after the Vatican determined that local church officials could not sell the building.
The diocese announced Wednesday that a weekly Mass would be celebrated at St. Patrick starting Dec. 1.
The diocese stressed that the decision does not mean that St. Patrick would re-open as a distinct parish. St. Patrick remains a subsidiary of Holy Name of Jesus Parish.
The diocese closed St. Patrick in 2009 and merged it with Holy Name.
Parishioners appealed, and while a Vatican court upheld the Springfield Diocese's decision to close the parish, the court determined the diocese could not relegate the church building for secular use to sell it.
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