Now Bishop Richard Lennon has announced he will not celebrate the final Mass scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
As a lector at St. Emeric, Jack Korossy reads scripture to the congregation on Sundays but even his faith is shaken by the parish closing.
"In my heart, I feel it is a terribly unChristian thing to do," Korossy said.
At the church, you'll find messages that shout out the stain glass, messages that signal the impending deadline.
"We are not biased against the Bishop. We don't like what he's doing. We want our church," Korossy said.
Absentee parishioner Piri Taborosi came all the way from Syracuse, New York. If she can't save the church, she will save some of the flowers in and around it.
"We're taking something that is alive and we're hoping to plant it some place where we will again, somehow as a church, come together and make it alive," Taborosi said.
The Bishop planned to celebrate Mass Wednesday before closing the church.
As if in a final act of defiance, parishioners did something the diocese did not expect.
Many in the congregation met June 9 and, from the organist to the lectors, decided they would not assist the Bishop in this closing mass.
It was the organist that said he would not play at the church's execution.
The Diocese responded Monday with a letter to the pastor. Bishop Lennon expressed deep disappointment that the Mass was canceled and he would not be coming.
In his heart, Korossy hopes this will postpone the church closing although, it may have only spared the diocese a face-to-face confrontation with the parishioners getting displaced.
Instead, the parish is planning a different ceremony.
WKYC-TV