Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Chaos in Baston
Boston, Dec. 28 (CWNews.com) - The parish closing process in the Boston archdiocese took another turn this week as two protesters were arrested for trespassing, even while Archbishop Sean O'Malley gave unexpected Christmas gifts to a couple of parishes slated for closing.
On Christmas Eve, two people were arrested at Sacred Heart parish in South Natick, Massachusetts, after they refused a police order to leave. Five people had set up sleeping bags in the church following the Christmas vigil Mass, intending to begin their occupation of the church to prevent its closing on Sunday. Three of the people acceded to the request of a police officer to leave, but the other two were arrested after refusing. The archdiocese on Tuesday asked for the charges to be dropped. On Sunday, police officers were posted at each entrance to prevent any attempted occupation.
Earlier this year, the archdiocese announced plans to close or merge more than 80 of its 375 parishes, citing financial problems, a declining number of priests, and changing demographics as reasons. While 50 parishes have closed without incident, eight churches have been occupied by parishioners who refuse to allow the parishes to be closed. In most cases, the closing process has been halted by as few as a dozen people in the community.
The protests have resulted in changes to the reconfiguration plan by the archdiocese. At least one parish marked for suppression has been given a reprieve and will now stay open. Several more parishes, including some where it was apparent that a sit-in protest was going to take place, have been given indefinite extensions, including St. Thomas parish in Salem, which received the news just a few days before Christmas. And in other cases, parishes marked for closing in the towns of Newton and Charlestown will instead be merged with other neighboring parishes. The various actions by the archdiocese have prevented further occupations of closing parishes in the past several weeks.
Meanwhile last week, Archbishop O'Malley allowed Christmas Mass to be celebrated in at least one of the churches that has been occupied after closing, St. Albert the Great parish in Weymouth, Massachusetts. The protest at the church is oldest of the occupations and the largest with dozens of people sitting in pews, day and night. There have been reports that daily Communion services led by several women in the parish are using Eucharistic hosts illicitly supplied by a network of priests disobeying archdiocesan orders.
On Christmas Eve, two people were arrested at Sacred Heart parish in South Natick, Massachusetts, after they refused a police order to leave. Five people had set up sleeping bags in the church following the Christmas vigil Mass, intending to begin their occupation of the church to prevent its closing on Sunday. Three of the people acceded to the request of a police officer to leave, but the other two were arrested after refusing. The archdiocese on Tuesday asked for the charges to be dropped. On Sunday, police officers were posted at each entrance to prevent any attempted occupation.
Earlier this year, the archdiocese announced plans to close or merge more than 80 of its 375 parishes, citing financial problems, a declining number of priests, and changing demographics as reasons. While 50 parishes have closed without incident, eight churches have been occupied by parishioners who refuse to allow the parishes to be closed. In most cases, the closing process has been halted by as few as a dozen people in the community.
The protests have resulted in changes to the reconfiguration plan by the archdiocese. At least one parish marked for suppression has been given a reprieve and will now stay open. Several more parishes, including some where it was apparent that a sit-in protest was going to take place, have been given indefinite extensions, including St. Thomas parish in Salem, which received the news just a few days before Christmas. And in other cases, parishes marked for closing in the towns of Newton and Charlestown will instead be merged with other neighboring parishes. The various actions by the archdiocese have prevented further occupations of closing parishes in the past several weeks.
Meanwhile last week, Archbishop O'Malley allowed Christmas Mass to be celebrated in at least one of the churches that has been occupied after closing, St. Albert the Great parish in Weymouth, Massachusetts. The protest at the church is oldest of the occupations and the largest with dozens of people sitting in pews, day and night. There have been reports that daily Communion services led by several women in the parish are using Eucharistic hosts illicitly supplied by a network of priests disobeying archdiocesan orders.
