Boston Catholics gather for Mass in response to parish closings

Published: 2004-08-18

BOSTON (CNS) -- Cold, cloudy and windy weather did not deter about 1,000 people from gathering on the Boston Common Aug. 15 for a Mass planned as a response to the Boston Archdiocese's decision to close several dozen parishes in the coming months. The Mass, held on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was organized by Voice of the Faithful, and the congregation included priests, members of the organization and other Catholics. In May Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley announced that 70 of the 357 parishes in the archdiocese will close. Another five parishes are scheduled to continue as worship sites and five new parishes are to be created. The reconfiguration will leave 292 parishes in the 2,465-square-mile archdiocese. Four of the five priests concelebrating the Mass were from parishes slated for closure: Father Ronald D. Coyne, St. Albert the Great, Weymouth; Father Robert J. Bowers, St. Catherine of Siena, Charlestown; Father Stephen S. Josoma, St. Susanna, Dedham; and Jesuit Father David H. Gill, St. Mary of the Angels, Roxbury. Joining them was Father Patrick J. McLaughlin of St. Joseph Parish in Medford. Maryetta Dussourd, the mother and aunt of victims of convicted child molester John Geoghan, spoke before Mass began. She told worshippers, "I know that you suffer pain and sadness. ... It is time to realize that God is more important than buildings," she said. "You haven't lost your faith and you haven't lost each other."

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