Former Massachusetts Catholic church sold, = slated to become a mosque

Former Massachusetts Catholic church sold, slated to = become a=20 mosque

By=20 Terence Hegarty
12/7/2006

Catholic News Service

INDIAN ORCHARD, Mass. (CNS) -- It will = still be a=20 house of worship. That's something that was important to = Lokman=20 Yanbul and Catholic parishioners regarding the former St. = Matthew=20 Church in Indian Orchard.

The = 142-year-old=20 colonial church and the rectory next door were sold for = $150,000 in=20 October to the Turkish-American Islamic Society Inc., which = plans to=20 convert the church into a mosque. Needed renovations are = expected to=20 be completed within a year.

"We did this for the = children,"=20 said Yanbul, referring to why the local Turkish-American = community=20 felt the need to have its own mosque. "We want them to (be = able to)=20 continue their cultural and religious heritage." =

Yanbul is=20 married and has three children. He has lived in the United = States=20 for 29 years, immigrating to Brooklyn, N.Y., with his family = as a=20 teenager. He has been a resident of Ludlow, near Indian = Orchard, for=20 the last seven years.

Aside from worshipping in the = Turkish=20 language, Yanbul said their community's liturgy is = culturally=20 different from those offered in other area mosques. He said = the=20 Turkish-American society is currently made up of about 80 = families.=20

"Basically, what the community is doing is (forming) = what I=20 like to compare to an ethnic parish in Catholicism, a=20 Turkish-speaking mosque, and we're very pleased to welcome = them=20 here," said St. Jude's pastor, Father William Pomerleau. =

St.=20 Jude Parish was formed in 1998, when St. Matthew and St. = Aloysius=20 parishes were merged. Father Pomerleau is also a staff = reporter for=20 the Catholic Communications Corp., which publishes The = Catholic=20 Observer, newspaper of the Springfield Diocese.

"The = parish=20 leadership is very thrilled that it will continue to be a = house of=20 worship," said Father Pomerleau. Parishioners -- many of = whom are=20 former St. Matthew parishioners -- are also happy with the=20 arrangement.

The property had been offered for sale = for more=20 than a year. The proceeds from the sale went to St. Jude = Parish.=20 According to Father Pomerleau, the funds were used to = continue=20 parish operations and to satisfy obligations to the diocese. =

When asked if he was concerned about a negative = community=20 reaction to a mosque in the neighborhood, especially in a = post-Sept.=20 11, 2001, world, Yanbul said both St. Jude parishioners and = the=20 community at large have welcomed them. He said he has not = personally=20 seen any animosity toward Muslims and there has been a great = response from both the Muslim and the Catholic communities.=20

Father Pomerleau said Catholic parishes and = dioceses, when=20 selling former worship spaces, need to be very careful about = the=20 future use of the facilities. "I think we would have had ... = opposition had it been (sold to) a certain kind of = business."=20

St. Matthew Church, built in 1864, has been dormant = for more=20 than five years and the rectory for more than eight. Irish=20 immigrants, most of whom worked in the mills in Indian = Orchard and=20 Ludlow, established St. Matthew Parish in 1878.

The = fact=20 that Turkish immigrants will worship in a building where = Irish=20 immigrants did before them is not lost on Yanbul or Father=20 Pomerleau. "What's happening here is not a new story; it's a = story=20 that's been going on for 100-150 years," said the priest. =

At=20 a time when the eyes of the world are upon Catholic-Muslim=20 relations, with Pope Benedict XVI's trip to Turkey, = developments in=20 Indian Orchard could be seen as a microcosm of the global = situation.=20

Yanbul said he feels "we definitely need better=20 Christian-Muslim relations." He said the Turkish community = is made=20 up of moderate Muslims. "The Turkish don't know what = hard-line is,"=20 Yanbul said.

Father Pomerleau said the mosque would = likely=20 not only serve a small but growing number of = Turkish-Americans but=20 also Meshkitian Turks, who number about 300. They are = refugees from=20 the former Soviet Republic of Georgia and began settling in = the area=20 a year ago.

Father Pomerleau said he thinks having = the=20 Muslim community so close to St. Jude Parish will help = parishioners.=20

"We at St. Jude's are going to take this opportunity = to talk=20 about the Islamic faith, to talk about Turkish culture and = to use it=20 as an example of our multicultural world," he said. "I think = it's=20 going to be very exciting."=20
- - -

Copyright (c) 2006 = Catholic News=20 Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

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Former Massachusetts Catholic church sold, slated to = become a=20 mosque