MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe
By Michael Levenson, Globe Correspondent | August 11, 2005
No one from the Boston Archdiocese spoke at a packed Beacon Hill hearing yesterday on legislation that would force all religious groups to open their books to the public. The absence angered lawmakers who said they had hoped to discuss the Catholic Church's finances, real estate holdings, and efforts to restore parishioners' confidence.
To cheers from the audience, Republicans and Democrats voiced their support for the bill in forceful, often emotionally charged testimony that touched on the clergy sexual abuse crisis and the rebellion over parish closings in Greater Boston.
The hearing was an extraordinary demonstration of shifting attitudes on Beacon Hill, as lawmakers who had stood with the Catholic Church on issues such as abortion criticized its treatment of lay Catholics during the abuse scandal and its plan to close nearly one fourth of the parishes in the archdiocese. Years ago, ''we were fearful of bringing issues of this nature up," Thomas P. O'Neill 3d, a former lieutenant governor and state representative, told members of the Judiciary Committee. ''It is historic."