FR. ZENDEJAS OPENING NEW RETREAT HOUSE IN CT. (resistance)

[Dawn Marie]

GOD BLESS FATHER ZENDEJAS!

Chapel of St. Michael and Queen of Angels Rosary Rally at Planned Parenthood in Houston, TX 2013. Fr. Zendejas led the Rosary and prayers and taught us all the Cristero song. Viva!

Neighbors oppose church's move to quiet Danbury road
 
Rob Ryser
10:51 pm, Wednesday, March 11, 2015

DANBURY -- Plans by a decades-old authors' services business to sell its warehouse and 18 acres to a little-known church run by an independent priest will be challenged by neighbors during a public hearing Thursday night.

Residents of Long Ridge Road near the Redding border are concerned the church will overwhelm the rural character of their wooded neighborhood, despite assurances by the church leader that services will be small.

"They said they don't want to grow said Barbara Fulton, who has lived in the neighborhood for 47 years. "But I have been involved with lots of churches, and there is no church that I know of that doesn't want to grow."

Although neighbors said their argument is not with the church, it doesn't help that little is known about the group.

The pastor of the church, the Rev. Gerardo Zendejas, is a missionary from Mexico who was affiliated up until six months ago with a conservative group known as the Society of St. Pius X that broke with official Roman Catholic doctrine and is now not recognized as part of the church.

But Zendejas has since left that group, known as SSPX, and has formed a church called BRN Associates. Although he and several church members have met with neighborhood opponents, the meetings have not eased their concerns.

It seems like the more questions we ask, the less satisfaction we get," said Duane Perkins, a city councilman who represents the neighborhood.

"Long Ridge Road is the only designated scenic road in the entire city, and if this thing gets out of hand, we could lose that designation," Perkins said. "We are being told this whole operation is going to be small, and they want us to take their word for it."

There's no need to take their word for it, the lawyer representing the sellers responded on Wednesday. The church has agreed to limit services to twice on Sunday with no more than 35 cars at each service, among other restrictions, as part of any agreement to approve the deal.

"It's unfortunate that people are saying we're going to have 500 cars," said Thomas Beecher, the attorney representing the Institute of Children's Literature, which has owned the property for 40 years. "The fear was this is going to be a mega church, and that is just not the case."

The Institute and BRN are seeking approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals to waive two requirements for a church in the single-family neighborhood zone. One requirement is that a church must be connected to city water and city sewers instead of the wells and septic system on the property. The other requirement is the church must be on a road that is designed for more volume than Long Ridge Road.

The ZBA will hear arguments from both sides at City Hall at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Bryan Judge, the chairman of the Institute, said the church would use less water, produce less waste and draw less traffic than the business he has run there since 1975. During his business' heyday, the Institute had 70 employees driving to work each weekday.

The church has no plans to modify the buildings or the site, according to Judge, who has been trying to move his business to a smaller location for three years. Zendejas reportedly plans to hold church services in the manor house on the property.

Zendejas could not be reached Wednesday. He was traveling and was not available to comment, Judge said.

For years, Zendejas was affiliated with Christ the King Church in Ridgefield, a priory run by SSPX that includes the St. Ignatius Retreat House.

SSPX and the Catholic Church have been trying to reconcile with mixed results since 1970, when priests broke with Rome to protest Vatican II reforms, an expert said.

"Right now, SSPX seems to want to be an order, but it is not recognized by the Vatican," said Brian Stiltner, the chairman of the Theology and Religious Studies Department at Sacred Heart University. "So they are sort of like a club."

It was not clear Wednesday why Zendejas left the Ridgefield priory.

Rev. Jean Violette, the prior of Christ the King Church, would only say Zendejas left the society in August.

As a result, Zendejas is not recognized inside or outside the Catholic Church.

One resident who was at a meeting with Zendejas and church members said the lack of a track record raised questions.

"We couldn't get any information out of them," neighbor Bill Wick said. "If we did get information, they wouldn't give us guarantees."

[Dawn Marie]

Thanks be to God!  I'm pretty sure he is waiting only on a permit before he can open the house.

[Dawn Marie]

Alas it was not meant to be...at least not in that location.  Father will keep looking :)

[David Kaftal]

I'll bet he finds a better place — someplace where more than 35 cars will be permitted to park!