BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | August 12, 2005
One day after the Archdiocese of Boston acknowledged that it had erred in attempting to take the property of closed parishes, parishioners, pastors, and reform groups attempted to take stock of the implications of the unexpected development for parishes that have already closed and those that might close in the future.
The lay reform organization Voice of the Faithful issued a statement calling on all parishes around the country to appeal any closing decisions to the Vatican, warning that one lesson of the Boston situation is that parishes need to file appeals to protect their rights.
A lawyer representing three parishes that have sued the Archdiocese of Boston over closing decisions said the development bolsters those suits, in which parishioners made the argument that the archdiocese did not have the right to take the assets of their closing churches.
In a positive development for the archdiocese, a pastor contacted by the Globe said he expected to voluntarily turn over the assets of a closing parish -- worth millions of dollars in his case -- to the archdiocese.