By Jennifer Mann
The Patriot Ledger
May 17, 2010
http://www.patriotledger.com/lifestyle/faith/x289821029/Vatican-court-rejects-appeal-on-church-closings-including-those-in-Scituate-and-Quincy
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| Scituate prays in St. Francis Cabrini Church in North Scituate as she has three days a week since the church was slated to close over five years ago. The Vatican is making a decision on the fate of the church. |
SCITUATE — The Vatican’s highest court has rejected appeals by ten Catholic parishes, including ones in Scituate and Quincy, which were closed in 2004 by the Archdiocese of Boston.
The Council of Parishes, which formed to support parishes slated for closing, and which represented nine of the appeals before the full college of the Apostolic Signatura, announced the decision in a press release on Monday.
The appeals of the church closings were heard in a closed- door meeting of the full college on May 7.“The parishioner groups whose appeals have been denied ... will now have to consider what steps to take next,” read the statement by Peter Borre, chair of the council. “One thing is clear: American Catholics will not let up in their efforts to bring the American bishops to account, and to compel bishops to stop using parishes as ATMs to pay the piper for clergy sex abuse.”
More than 60 churches were closed by the archdiocese in 2004 as part of a cost-cutting reconfiguration plan that was intended to deal with a drop in attendance, a priest shortage and financial problems after the clergy sexual abuse scandal.
Of the 10 parish communities that appealed the closures, three have maintained around- the-clock vigils at their church in protest. That includes the St. Frances X. Cabrini in Scituate.
Star of the Sea in the Squantum section of Quincy was also appealing its closure. It reopened July 2005 as a chapel of Sacred Heart Parish in North Quincy, but it only has one Mass a week, and it no longer holds funerals, baptisms, weddings or catechism classes.
Later Monday afternoon, the Archdiocese released its own statement through spokesman Terrence Donilon, deferring comment on the decision until formal notice is received from the Vatican in writing, and disputing Borre's accusation regarding the reasons behind the church closings.
"Cardinal Sean (O'Malley)’s commitment to the people of the Archdiocese is absolute: no money from the sale of parish properties closed through the Reconfiguration process has been used or will be used to fund settlement-related costs," the statement reads.
Money from property sales -- primarily the sale of a portion of the Archdiocese's Brighton property to Boston College -- insurance coverage under policies issued to the Archdiocese, and money from the Archdiocese’s self-insurance fund paid in full for the settlements, according to the statement.
Parishioners at the Scituate church said they were not surprised by the decision and will remain in the church even if they have to be forced out by police.
"I feel bad for the local authorities that are going to have to arrest us," said Jon Rogers, one of the leaders of the vigil at St. Frances. "The blame squarely falls on the shoulders of the Archdiocese."
O’Malley has repeatedly said he would wait for the canon law appeals process to play out before deciding his next move on the vigils.
For the full story read Tuesday's Patriot Ledger.
Jennifer Mann may be reached at jmann@ledger.com
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