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Former Massachusetts Catholic church sold, slated to become a
mosque

By
Terence Hegarty
12/7/2006

Catholic News Service

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- - -

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

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