Indiana church claims discrimination after city stops building demolition

An Indianapolis Catholic church filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday accusing local officials of religious discrimination. St. Philip Neri Catholic Church wanted to demolish an more than 100-year-old church, formerly known as Holy Cross Church, on its property. The Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission unanimously voted in October to deny the church’s request, citing the building’s historic designation.

St. Philip Neri leaders argued that the commission’s historic site designation and demolition denial unconditionally hampered the parish’s free religious practice. The lawsuit further alleged that officials also violated the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, known as RLUIPA. The federal statute protects religious groups from discrimination through unnecessarily burdensome or unequal application of land use regulations.

Rev. Jeffrey Dufresne described the church’s disappointment after the Indianapolis historic commission voted to save the building in October. The city is illegally inserting itself in the church’s prayerful discernment about how to steward its own property, Dufresne said in an interview with local media outlet WISH-TV after the vote.

Why would parish leaders want to demolish a historic church? The lawsuit described the historic building in a hazardous level of deterioration, noting that the front portico roof collapsed in 2015. The metal anchors used to construct the limestone masonry have rusted and compromised the building’s structural integrity, according to the lawsuit. The necessary repairs to make the building usable would cost at least $7.5 million, which the St. Philip Neri congregation can’t afford, according to the filing.

Catholic doctrine includes various safeguards to protect religious symbols and relics from profane use when a church building falls into disuse. The church must be deconsecrated and all sacred objects like the altar and stained-glass windows, be removed and used in another parish. St. Philip Neri leaders aimed to remove the relics before demolishing the building. The Holy Cross’ historic status legally barred church leaders from removing the altar, stained glass windows, and consecrated bells, as required under Catholic doctrine.

The church is now left with an unusable building that it can’t afford to fix, but can’t legally tear down, according to the lawsuit. Parishioners could sell the property but risk profane and/or sacrilegious use of the church in the future, the filing said.

Lawsuits represent only one side of a story. WORLD has reached out to the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission. This story will be updated with any response WORLD receives.