For aggrieved parishioners at churches ordered closed or merged by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan last November, it seemed like a simple task: Get a copy of the formal decree of his decision on their parishes, so they could properly appeal to the Vatican.
So across the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, they began calling and writing letters to Cardinal Dolan and his senior aides, asking for the decrees. Some seven weeks later, a definitive answer came back: No, they could not have copies.
But archdiocesan officials said they would allow parishioners to view the documents — under certain conditions.
There could be no photographs and no transcriptions. Notes could be taken, but sometimes only after the document was out of sight. Viewings were by appointment, monitored by archdiocesan officials, parishioners who saw their decrees said.
The rules bewildered parishioners, who feared they might be stymied in filing their appeals. And several leading canon lawyers interviewed this week said they represented a highly unusual departure from church norms.
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And though the highest court at the Vatican is about to consider reversing the fate of St. Vincent de Paul, a parish in Chelsea whose closing was also announced in 2007, its parishioners have also never had a copy of the decree. They have recently heard, however, that one is in the paperwork submitted by the New York archdiocese to the court.
A result has been years of frustration, adding to a sense that the cards are stacked against New York parishes who seek to argue their closings are unjust.
“You are taking away something that is precious,” Peter Borre, a canonical adviser who has been helping St. Vincent’s parishioners, said of the archdiocese. “Why can’t you play it straight?”
A version of this article appears in print on February 13, 2015, on page A22 of the New York edition with the headline: Parishioners See a System of Secrets. Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe
