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GAZETTE FILE PHOTO

The Vatican has turned down an appeal by former parishioners to reopen St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Northampton, seen here in 2009 with Stoddard Hall of Smith College at left on Elm Street.

NORTHAMPTON - The Vatican has rejected a plea by former parishioners of St. Mary of the Assumption Church to reopen the church closed by the Springfield Diocese in 2009.

The Congregation for the Clergy, located in Vatican City, in an action Dec. 20, turned back the appeal filed by members of the now-shuttered Elm Street church, located on the rise west of downtown Northampton.

A group of St. Mary's parishioners had sought to reverse the decision by Springfield Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell to merge the parish, along with other Northampton Roman Catholic churches, into the new St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish.

Two parishioners who helped file the appeal said Thursday that they had yet to see a copy of the ruling, even though the decision was affirmed more than two weeks ago.

"Whatever came out of Rome, I can't react to it because I haven't seen it," said Edward J. McMahon, a Northampton attorney who served on the parish committee.

Thomas McGee, a St. Mary's parishioner and member of the administration and finance committee, said that he would not have much to say publicly until he reads the decision.

He wonders why the diocese waited so long to make the announcement, thereby reducing the time parishioners have to read the ruling and prepare a proper appeal.

"This is no way to be notified," he said. "We have a thin window to appeal and they've already used up 14 days."

McGee said there's little doubt that parishioners will appeal the decision and continue to fight to save the church.

"It's a beautiful church in beautiful condition and it was closed unnecessarily," McGee said.

Mark Dupont, a spokesman for the diocese, said in a release Thursday that the Vatican group found no basis for granting the appeal. As a result, the diocese can continue with its plans to shift the church to "non-sacred use, thereby leaving the decrees intact and effective."

Those decrees came in 2009, when the bishop moved to create a single citywide parish. While at first McDonnell chose St. Mary's as the location for the new parish, he changed course in 2009, citing concerns about the cost of repairs, which the parishioners involved in the appeal disputed.

The St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, founded Jan. 1, 2010, worships at the former Sacred Heart Parish on King Street, with Masses also held at churches associated with the former Blessed Sacrament Parish on Elm Street and the Annunciation Parish in Florence.

As they did in the initial appeal, McMahon and McGee on Thursday questioned the arguments - repair costs, parking and handicapped accessibility issues - the diocese made when it decided to close St. Mary.

The diocese has said it would cost $1.3 million to make necessary repairs. A study completed for the parishioners, however, puts the figure at about $238,000. McMahon and McGee said they church had $270,000 in its bank account when it closed, plus another $720,000 that had been bequeathed to the church by Irene S. Kuzontkoski of Northampton when she died in October 2009. That money remains tied up in probate court.

McGee also said Thursday's press release from the diocese left out information and mischaracterized the appeal as made by a "few former St. Mary's parishioners" instead of the 300 that he says signed the petition.

In the meantime, the diocese is moving ahead with plans to convert the St. Elizabeth Ann property so that it can better accommodate the city's Catholic community.

Plans include construction of a new, 14,000-square-foot parish hall on the north side of the property, an expanded parking lot, and interior renovations to the church.