BOSTON (MA)
Telegram & Gazette
By DENISE LAVOIE
Associated Press Writer
BOSTON— By the time the Rev. Chris Coyne had to face angry parishioners whose churches were about to close, he was already accustomed to being in the hot seat.
Coyne had been the spokesman for Cardinal Bernard Law at the height of the clergy sex abuse scandal. As the most visible symbol of the embattled Boston Archdiocese, Coyne became the focal point for the anger of some victims.
When Coyne was confronted by a group of furious parishioners outside a court hearing on the future of St. Albert the Great in Weymouth, one of more than 80 parishes the archdiocese had scheduled to close, he showed poise.
"Have you ever been to Weymouth? Have you been to our parish?" Sandy Jones shouted at Coyne as he spoke with reporters outside of Suffolk Superior Court.
Coyne, in his characteristic unflappable style, ended the media interviews when Jones refused to stop interrupting him. He quietly walked away, later saying, "People's emotions are high, and I understand that."