St. Vincent Pallotti (SVP) of Haddon Township has finally heard from the Vatican.

It's not every day that a parish in the midst of boycotting a diocesan merger hears from the Vatican. Even less common is the message from Rome -- that the parish can proceed with "the formal Administrative Recourse Process against the decision of Bishop Joseph Galante, who intends to merge the parish at the St. Aloysius church (Oaklyn, NJ) site," according to a press release from the Friends of St. Vincent Pallotti (FOSVP) distributed on Wed.
On Sept. 30, SVP received a letter from the Congregation for the Clergy at the Vatican via Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. The Papal Nuncio, as he is also called, is the representative of the Pope and Vatican in the United States. According to SVP, the letter from the Congregation for the Clergy (Bishop Galante's hierarchichal superior in Rome) states that "this Congregation has understood Bishop Galante's announcement of April 3rd, 2008, as an administrative act, albeit not written, against which you (St. Vincent Pallotti Parish) have taken recourse."