Worshipper, church clash

Pastor, students say woman in car should stay away

By LINDA SPICE
lspice@journalsentinel.com

Posted: May 20, 2008

A woman who prays almost every day outside a south side Catholic church has run into what strikes some neighbors as unlikely opposition - the pastor and students from the adjacent school.

Blessed Sacrament Church's priest, Father Robert Turner, has already tried and failed to get an injunction to keep Cecelia Kaczmarski, 75, away. Lately, students have been collecting signatures to turn in to an alderman.

"Please help us in the peaceful removal of this woman who has been a nuisance to our school community and your neighborhood," read the petition circulated along S. 41st St. near W. Oklahoma Ave. last week.

Residents said that for years, Kaczmarski has been parking along the street outside Blessed Sacrament, day and night, and praying inside her car.

Turner's February request for an injunction asked that Kaczmarski be kept 1,000 feet away from the parish.

"Cecelia has been stalking the parish for at least 10 years," he wrote in the petition. "She parks in front of the rectory where she claims she has visions. She has been ordered to move many times by the police. She always returns. The school children are afraid of her presence. Older parishioners are annoyed by her presence and she appears to be dead in the car. She has made bizarre and false statements to the police concerning her presence at the church."

A court commissioner granted a temporary restraining order, but a judge later denied an injunction against Kaczmarski.

Turner and school officials declined to be interviewed and referred questions to Ald. Joe Dudzik, who has been working with them and police about their concerns. In an e-mail, Kathleen Hohl, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, said the matter is a neighborhood issue and that the archdiocese is not involved.

Alderman encouraged it

Ald. Bob Donovan, a parishioner at the church, said he met with eighth-graders recently, encouraging them to get involved in the political process. That led to the petitions.

"I had indicated to the kids if they're concerned, if they feel this is an issue that their safety might be jeopardized, get involved," he said. "It's more out of concern for her. I think the fact that she's almost living out of her vehicle, these are issues I don't think anybody with a heart wants to see occur."

When students appeared at her door last week, Julie Arredondo e-mailed the church expressing her disdain.

"It's just unconscionable that they would send children to do something like that," Arredondo said. "To me, she's completely harmless. She sits there. She prays, always sitting in her car, never illegally parked. I just can't understand what the parish's problem is with her."

But other neighbors signed in support.

"I thought, 'It's not harmful.' It's just a way to get the lady away from the church area," said Janice Mushall. "It would be for her own good, too."

On Monday, Kaczmarski sat in her car outside of the church, the engine running and a rosary in her hands.

"If Mary appears here and says, 'You belong in the church,' that's where I'm supposed to be," she said.

She called Turner rude, and noted that the court denied his request to keep her from parking near the church.

"The judge says, 'You're free,' so I'll park here," she said, and denied the church's claim that she had been talking to children and asking for money.

Whether Kaczmarski, who lives about 50 blocks west of Blessed Sacrament, was ever a member there was not clear.

Dudzik said he is concerned that Kaczmarski's car often is running while children are going to and from school.

He also worries about the cost of police and paramedics continually responding when she appears unresponsive.

Milwaukee paramedics can recall four runs since January in which callers reported an "unresponsive elderly lady" in a vehicle. When they arrive, however, she responds, tells them she is praying, according to Fire Department spokeswoman Tiffany Wynn.

One of those calls came from Dudzik himself.

"She said I should stop looking at her because I was the Antichrist. I've been called worse," Dudzik said.

Dudzik said he will await the students' petitions and consult with the city attorney's office about any possible actions.