Reopening dates announced for 5 Roman catholic churches closed in 2009 by Bishop Richard Lennon

CLEVELAND - Of the 11 catholic churches, closed by Bishop Richard Lennon in 2009, reopening dates for five of them are now known.

St. Casimir Church will reopen on July 15. Rev. Eric Orzech will deliver his message beginning at 11:30 a.m.

St. John the Baptist in Akron is also scheduled to reopen for mass on July 15. The first service will begin at 10 a.m. Parishioner registration is set for July 5-6 from 10 a.m. to noon.

Church-goers can begin attending St. Barbara mass beginning July 22. Service times are not yet known. Parishioners wanting to attend St. James Parish in Lakewood can do so on July 25 at 7 p.m. Mass at St. Adalbert will begin at 11 a.m. on Aug. 12.

Reopening dates for St. Emeric Parish in Cleveland, St. Mary in Akron, St. Mary Parish in Bedford, St. Patrick Parish (West Park) in Cleveland, St. Peter Parish in Cleveland, St. Wendelin Parish in Cleveland, St. Mary Parish in Lorain, have not been announced yet.

The churches were among 50 that were closed in 2009 by Bishop Richard Lennon. Parishioners, many of them second- and third-generation members of the churches, challenged some of the closings, staged sit-ins and other protests and even created a breakaway congregation.

In April, Lennon announced 12 Roman catholic churches in the area would reopen. The decision came after March's extraordinary Vatican decision to overrule his closing of the parishes, a rare instance in which Rome reversed a U.S. bishop on the shutdown of churches. The Vatican said Lennon failed to follow Canon Law and procedures when he closed them.