BOSTON (MA)
Boston.com
By ANDREW RYAN, Associated Press | January 14, 2006
BOSTON --The Vatican has rejected the appeals of 10 parishes in the Boston Archdiocese that had petitioned to remain open after being shuttered as part of Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley's reconfiguration plan.
O'Malley announced in January 2004 plans to close more than 80 parishes in response to a decline in the number of priests, changing demographics, and financial troubles brought on in part by the clergy sex abuse scandal.
"We appreciate the disappointment that this news brings to those who submitted the appeals and all who are saddened by the parish closings," O'Malley said in a statement released Saturday. "This has been a difficult time for our Catholic community."
The news trickled from journalists to parish groups that filed the appeals.
"We are disappointed but not surprised," said Peter Borre, co-chairman of the Council of Parishes, a coalition that includes eight of the parishes that lost appeals. "We did not entertain any illusions that the clergy would greet us with open arms."