NORTH PROVIDENCE — It is said that good fences make good neighbors, but the last thing a small group of ladies with a dedication to praying the rosary wanted to do was to create a divide between themselves and any of their fellow residents at Brook Village.
For more than 20 years a group of the faithful living at the apartment complex has gathered regularly to pray the rosary. Fourteen years ago, Nancy Davey moved to the complex and was delighted to join the group, which supplemented her worship at nearby Mary Mother of Mankind Church.
“It gives us a lift to say the rosary,” says Davey, the mother of 12 adult children.
But back in May, a fellow resident sent a letter of complaint to the Boston offices of Winn Management Co., the residential company managing Brook Village and other properties, complaining that the community room of the complex should not be used by the group to pray each week.
Wanda Hughes, who says she has resided at Brook Village since 2000, wrote the company’s management asking that the group no longer be allowed to pray in the common area.
“They have a right to freedom of religion, but a church does not belong in subsidized housing in a community room” Hughes told Rhode Island Catholic.
“They’re not the only ones who think they are holy,” said Hughes, the self-described daughter of a Protestant minister, who added that she was raised to read the Bible each morning.
The rosary group, consisting of three women, has sought to make the least impact on their fellow residents, according to Davey, who leads the weekly prayer sessions, which take place in a corner of the community room that measures about 30 feet from end to end. The group prays in silence for about 20 minutes each Monday in front of the television, which is tuned at 3:30 p.m. to the Eternal Word Television Network broadcast of an international recitation of the rosary.
In response to Hughes’ letter, Winn Management Co. in May asked that both Hughes and the rosary group refrain from using the common room for any activities for an unspecified period of time.
“It became a heated situation,” said Brian Kean, senior vice president of Winn Management Co. The property manager asked the parties to leave [the common room] on both sides. It was strictly to diffuse an escalating situation.” Last week, the rosary group was told they could once again pray in the common room.
Kean said that the company would never prohibit residents from exercising their faith, and that at the time, the group was encouraged to continue praying in the apartment of one of the members while the situation cooled down.
“We can’t promote it, and we’re not going to stop it,” said Kean, noting, “I personally say the rosary every day.”
Davey said she is thankful that the group can now continue praying in the common room.
“I don’t know what harm we could have been doing,” she said.
Mary Cappelli, a parishioner at Mary Mother of Mankind Parish who is also a member of the group, said she is thankful that they can again pray downstairs as they did a few weeks ago.
“In 19 years here nobody has ever said a word about it. I don’t know what this country is coming to,” she said.
Hughes said she wasn’t sure if she would lodge any additional complaints against the group.
