In late September, the Vatican handed down a decree to a small Denver church that says Our Lady of Visitation belongs to the parish of Holy Trinity.
This was not the answer members of the small Hispanic church were looking for, and they are appealing the decree to the highest court of the Vatican.
But the Archdiocese of Denver believes the decree sides with them.
They told Our Lady of Visitation they would need to stop regular masses because of a priest shortage, but said Wednesday they never had plans of closing the building entirely.
But currently, the doors are locked, and only the pastor of the Holy Trinity church just down the street has the key.
According to the Archdiocese, the Vatican decree merges Our Lady of Visitation under the parish of Holy Trinity, a church just down the street, which means Our Lady of Visitation cannot hold regular mass.
"They have the possibility to go there and attend mass with the larger body of Holy Trinity parishioners," said Father Giovanni Capucci, the Judicial Vicar with the Archdiocese of Denver.
Holy Trinity is a parish of around 3,000 people.
Sandy Garcia, a member of Our Lady of Visitation says a "church is not a Starbucks."
“It’s a very unique community," she said. "We get to celebrate as we’ve celebrated Hispanic Catholics for generations. And that’s something that you can’t just replace. And that kind of idea that you can swap in and out and that all churches are the same, we have our hearts in this church.”
Father Giovanni says it was always their intention to allow members of the church to continue using it as a Hispanic meeting place, but the doors are currently locked and members of the church say the priest who holds the key has not been responsive to them.
Garcia and others are appealing the decree from the Vatican.