Sanborn church to close, two appeal decisions overturned

By DAWN PROSSER
Director of Communications
 
A decree has been promulgated to close one diocesan church, while two previous appeals were overturned by the Vatican court system due to procedural errors.

Sanborn
Bishop Walker Nickless promulgated a decree Jan. 13 to deconsecrate and reduce St. Cecilia Church in Sanborn “to profane but not sordid use.” The building will no longer be used for divine worship. St. Cecilia had church building status at the time of the promulgation, with no regularly scheduled Masses.

The decree noted that parishioners were consulted during a September 2024 town hall meeting and the pastoral and finance councils were consulted in November. Following those meetings, Father Kevin Richter, St. Cecilia made the formal request to the bishop to close the church via decree.

St. Cecilia Parish, along with Sacred Heart Parish in Sutherland and St. Anthony Parish in Primghar were merged into St. Joseph Parish in Hartley in 2018. As of July 1, 2024, the Hartley parish, merged with Spencer Sacred Heart, retaining the name Sacred Heart Parish.
Per canon law, sacred items including the altar and other religious items will be removed from the Sanborn church.

Marcus Holy Name
The latest appeal from parishioners of Holy Name Parish in Marcus was overturned by the Vatican Apostolic Signatura court. The first petition against the Oct. 7, 2022, the bishop’s decree to merge St. Mary Parish in Remsen and Holy Name was forwarded to the Vatican in December 2022.

The bishop’s October 2022 decree was originally upheld by the Vatican courts. It was later overturned due to the diocesan Presbyteral Council meetings held via video conferencing instead of in-person. The Vatican courts now will not recognize video conferencing meetings as valid.

The two parishes remain independent of one another. The pastor of both parishes is Father Tim Pick.

Deacon Mark Prosser, director of pastoral planning and Bishop Nickless’ chief of staff, said the process to merge the two parishes will be restarted in the near future.

Pomeroy St. Mary
A decree allowing for the sale of Pomeroy St. Mary Church has been overturned by the Vatican Dicastery for Clergy. Bishop Nickless promulgated a decree to allow for the sale, which was appealed by a non-parishioner. Initially the courts upheld the decree but later it was overturned due to diocesan Presbyteral Council meetings held via video conferencing instead of in-person.

The bishop originally promulgated a June 10, 2017, decree to merge the parish into St. Thomas Parish, Manson. Former parishioners petitioned to the Vatican courts for recourse and ruled in July 2023 that the decree is “in effect permanently.”

Pomeroy St. MarySt. Thomas was merged into the new Our Lady of the Plains Parish along with St. Francis of Assisi in Rockwell City and St. Mary of Lake City as of July 1, 2024. Our Lady of the Plains pastor is Father Brian Feller.

Our Lady of the Plains leadership is assessing the next steps as they were the petitioners to close the church. A future petition would be considered by the Presbyteral Council.