In Our Own Words
Statements delivered by parishioners and letters sent to the Archdiocese, making the case for St. Lucy.
The Record
These are the full statements parishioners delivered at the Listening Sessions and the letters our community has sent to the Archdiocese. They are shared here so anyone, parishioner or not, can read the case for St. Lucy in full.
Summary Document · Both Listening Sessions
A neutral, thematic summary of all parishioner comments made at the May 2 and May 9 Listening Sessions. Organized by topic — canonical status, financial viability, the priest question, and more — to help parishioners find arguments that resonate before filling out the survey.
Read the full summary (PDF) ↗Spoken Statement · Listening Session
A parishioner's address to the Archdiocese on St. Lucy's century of faith, its canonical rights as a personal parish under Canon 518, its financial strength, and why the only Croatian Catholic parish in Michigan must remain open.
Read the full statement (PDF) ↗Spoken Statement · Listening Session
A point-by-point case that the Archdiocese has no "just cause" under Canon Law to disband St. Lucy: the parish is financially self-sustaining and identified a willing bilingual priest, Fr. Matija Žugaj, whose transfer was rejected. A call to let St. Lucy serve its parishioners with its own resources.
Read the full statement (PDF) ↗In Their Own Words
The AOD held listening sessions at all of its churches to hear parishioners' feedback. At St. Lucy's listening sessions, dozens of parishioners spoke about what St. Lucy means to them. Here is a small sample of what was shared:
One parishioner shared that their family was among the founding members of old St. Jerome Parish, that their mother worked in its kitchen, and that St. Lucy is now their family’s third Croatian church home across a century. A younger parishioner described being baptized at St. Lucy with a godfather who traveled from Canada for the occasion, and called St. Lucy “their family’s rock” after fleeing hardship abroad. Stories like these were repeated again and again on May 2 and May 9: families who built this parish with their own hands and their own labor, and who see it as the place where they have cried at funerals, celebrated weddings, and raised their children in the faith.