Boston parishioners face setbacks in keeping closed churches open

Published: 2004-09-16

BOSTON (CNS) -- Parishioners of at least three of the parishes slated to close in the Boston Archdiocese are fighting back to keep their churches open. Members of two parishes have been conducting sit-ins to protest their scheduled closing, and members of a third parish are planning to start a sit-in in late October. In May, Boston Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley announced that 70 of the 357 parishes in the archdiocese would be closed for a number of reasons, including costs involved in repairing deteriorating churches and other parish buildings, aging clergy, shifts in population and a decline in the number of active parishioners. Another five parishes are scheduled to continue as worship sites and five new parishes are to be created. Parishioners from St. Albert the Great in Weymouth sued the Archdiocese of Boston for ownership of their parish. They were denied their motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the archdiocese from selling the church and its assets. In ruling on the motion, originally filed Aug. 27, the court said it found "no substantial possibility of success on the merits of the case."

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