MASSACHUSETTS
Boston.com
By Kristi Palma @kristipalma
Boston.com Staff | 05.06.15
Margaret O’Brien, 85, has been a parishioner at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church in Scituate for 54 years.
She’s taught religious education at the parish and used to sing in the choir.
Now she’s being sued, along with other parishioners, by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston for trespassing on the property, reports The Boston Globe . Parishioners and representatives of the archdiocese faced off in Norfolk Superior Court Tuesday over the church, where members have kept vigil since the archdiocese closed it, nearly 11 years ago.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was one of dozens of churches the archdiocese decided to close after the clergy sex-abuse scandal affected Catholic church attendance and donations, according to the Globe. Parishioners in other parishes fought the closures initially but the Scituate church is the only one still fighting.
In June, the parishioners’ appeal to keep the church open was denied by the highest Vatican court. Parishioners were given a March 9 deadline to vacate the property. They did not.
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