MASSACHUSETTS
WCVB
BOSTON —For nearly 11 years now, parishioners have protested the closing of their church on the Massachusetts seacoast, keeping round-the-clock vigil there and holding Sunday services even though the Roman Catholic Church has de-consecrated the sanctuary.
Thursday, the Friends of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church continued to stand their ground, announcing plans to appeal a judge’s order to vacate the church by May 29. They also will appeal the judicial decisions leading up to the ruling and want the judge’s order suspended, pending a decision by the Massachusetts Appeals Court, said Mary Elizabeth Carmody, an attorney for the group.
“There were a number of decisions that handcuffed us at trial,” Carmody said.
The motions were filed in Norfolk Superior Court, where Judge Edward Leibensperger held the one-day trial earlier this month. The trial focused on the question: Who holds title to the church land?
Leibensperger said the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston owns the property in Scituate and he declared the parishioners trespassers. He declined to address church law issues raised by the protesters, who now argue that he didn’t properly consider their arguments.
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