By Jack Encarnacao
Patriot Ledger
April 23, 2011
http://www.patriotledger.com/lifestyle/faith/x1923755178/Parishioners-of-closed-Quincy-church-to-celebrate-Easter-liturgy
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| Star of the Sea Church in Quincy. |
Members of a parish that was closed by the Archdiocese will still celebrate Easter together at a liturgy at a nearby church.
Friends of Star of the Sea, a Squantum church closed in 2004 whose parishioners continue to appeal the closing, will hold the “Celebration in the Absence of a Priest” at the First Church of Squantum. The event begins at noon on Sunday.
The liturgy will include communion, using hosts consecrated by a Roman Catholic priest who is in good standing in the Archdiocese of Boston, according to a press release from Friends of Star of the Sea.
The liturgy has been approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Vatican for use in American dioceses, according to the Friends group.
The friends requested a formal Easter Mass at their former church, but the request was denied by the Boston chancery.
A collection will be taken at the liturgy to help support the friends group as it pursues appeals of the church’s closing.
The Archdiocese of Boston announced in February that it will begin a “consultation of the faithful” that will factor into its decisions on the future of seven closed churches, including Star of the Sea and St. Frances X. Cabrini in Scituate.
The move was a step toward a decree called “relegation to profane use,” which makes a church eligible to be sold.
The Star of the Sea group stands ready to appeal a profane-use relegation, and says it was emboldened by recent Vatican decisions in favor of appealing parishioners in Springfield and Allentown, Pa.
In those cases, the Vatican sided with parishioners and ordered 11 churches reopened.
Jack Encarnacao may be reached at jencarnacao@ledger.com
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