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	Vatican Rejects Appeals by Closed Churches TheBostonChannel May 17, 2010 http://www.thebostonchannel.com/mostpopular/23578466/detail.html [with video] BOSTON -- The Vatican has rejected final appeals by Massachusetts parishes closed by the Boston Archdiocese, according to the Council of Parishes. Members of 10 former parish communities that were closed between September 2004 and May 2005 filed appeals petitioning the Holy See to reverse the closure of their parishes. The parishes include Our Lady of Lourdes in Revere, Infant Jesus Saint Lawrence, in Brookline, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, in Scituate, Saint James the Great, in Wellesley, Saint Augustine, in South Boston, Star of the Sea, in Quincy, Our Lady of Mercy, in Belmont, Sacred Heart, in Natick, Saint Jeremiah, in Framingham and Saint Anselm in Sudbury. Click To Comment | Video | Map | Statement Peter Borre, co-chairman of the Council of Parishes, said he was informed about the Vatican's decision by a canon law expert for the groups. Three of the churches have had around-the-clock sit-ins going on for more than five years. The appeals are the result of the churches reconfiguration program of parish closings announced in 2004 in the immediate aftermath of the clergy sex abuse scandal. The Boston Archdiocese cited financial problems and a shortage of priests for the closures. The church paid $85 million to settle more than 500 claims during the sex abuse crisis within the church. Shortly after, the Archdiocese identified 83 Boston-area parishes to be closed, almost one-fourth of all parishes that were open at the time. The church has denied that the closings had anything to do with the multimillion-dollar payout. "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," Borre said in a statement. The church said the money came from a number of sources, including property sales, insurance coverage under policies issued to the archdiocese and money from the archdiocese's self-insurance fund. "Cardinal Sean'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 Archdiocese of Boston said in a statement.
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