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"                      <p class=\"imgtitle\">Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church in Port Bolivar before Hurricane Ike</p>           <br />GALVESTON &ndash; The legal battle over the fate of the Bolivar Peninsula's remaining Catholic church is shifting from Galveston County District Court to a federal court.<br /><br />A week after it was ordered to temporarily refrain from demolishing Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church in Port Bolivar, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston successfully lobbied to have the case heard by a federal judge in Houston.<br /><br />The archdiocese says the state court's involvement defeats the purpose of the separation of church and state as mandated by the First Amendment, thus it requests a higher court to junk the suit.<br /><br />Our Mother of Mercy, which has a membership of approximately 200 families, was one of the few structures on Port Bolivar that sustained minimal damage from Hurricane Ike's assault on Southeast Texas on Sept. 13, 2008.<br /><br />The attendees claim the church's lengthy history and intact state after the Category 2 storm are reasons why the archdiocese should not tear the building down.<br /><br />Fearful the absence of the 50-year-old church would force them to travel to much farther places to attend Mass, they obtained a temporary restraining order from Galveston County 122nd District Court Judge Ellisor to stop the ongoing demolition work as well as gain access to documents they believe provides them a voice on whether the house of worship should be torn down.<br /><br />The motion was filed by Galveston attorney Christopher D. Bertini on behalf of parishioners Judy Shaw and John DaFonte.<br /><br />The parishioners decry the change of venue, saying the move plays into the archdiocese's favor.<br /><br />Judge Ellisor told the archdiocese and the parishioners on June 16 to mediate their dispute.<br /><br />No date has been set for when deliberation in the federal court takes place.<br /><br />Case No. 09CV0916<br />"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://setexasrecord.com/stories/510611206-bolivar-church-case-moved-to-federal-court-archdiocese-seeks-dismissal>