Group to fight church closings

Seven parishes form coalition

By Christine MacDonald, Globe Correspondent | October 14, 2004

In the most unified effort to date on the part of parishes that have either closed or been threatened with closure, members of seven parishes announced the formation of a coalition yesterday aimed at halting church closings by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.

Meanwhile, an impromptu vigil by parishioners at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in East Boston gained strength yesterday on the second day of an occupation of another church the archdiocese plans to close.

The new group, calling itself the Council of Parishes, said members of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and other parishes were welcome to join the effort.

The group issued a statement last night saying members would work to revoke the closing decrees.

"The Council's mission is to support parishes in their appeal process, to communicate common concerns, and to address the effect of the closings on the Archdiocese, individual communities, and parishioners," read the statement provided by Bill Bannon, a spokesman for Sudbury parishioners, who have been one of the leading forces combating the church closings.

"The Council plans to meet regularly and to share information and resources as needed," the statement said. "The goal of the Council is for the process of closing parishes [to] be suspended; for closing decrees to be revoked; and to cooperate with Archbishop O'Malley in addressing archdiocesan concerns."

The seven parishes making up the council are St. Anselm and St. Albert the Great in Weymouth, St. Catherine of Siena in Charlestown, St. Jeremiah in Framingham, St. Susanna of Dedham, St. Thomas the Apostle in Salem, and Sacred Heart in Lexington.

"A number of parishioners from other parishes expressed interest in becoming involved with the Council at a later date," Bannon said in the statement. "The Council is open to all parishes in the archdiocese who desire to participate."

A spokesman for the archdiocese declined to comment on the formation of the council.

The group pledged to support Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

"They are not yet a part of it," said Cynthia Deysher, cochair for the Council of Parishes and chairwoman of the Parish Council at St. Anselm in Sudbury, where the group was formed. "We would certainly welcome their support, and we would certainly be an excellent resource for them. We formed this council to support other parishes, to let them know we support them."

The archdiocese had attempted to head off an occupation at Our Lady of Mount Carmel by offering a concession last week that would allow Mass and religious education to take place at a convent that belongs to the church. But some parishioners at Our Lady of Mount Carmel say the archdiocese reneged on part of the agreement.

Ann Carter, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said the archdiocese "stands steadily behind the commitment."

Parishioners celebrated their last Mass at Mount Carmel Sunday. When a church official returned to lock the doors for the last time, Daniel Filippone and Gina Scalcione said they wouldn't leave. "Danny said, 'I'm staying.' And I said, 'OK, I'll stay with you,' " Scalcione said.

Yesterday afternoon, parishioners began arriving in small numbers to say prayers and sign up for shifts, vowing to prevent the archdiocese from selling their church as part of the process that will close 82 churches.

Last night, Scalcione said, three representatives from the archdiocese arrived about 7:30 p.m. and asked the parishioners who had gathered to leave so they could lock the church doors, appealing to the people in small groups. Scalcione said the archdiocesan representatives left at 8:30 with the occupation continuing.

Carter could not be reached last night to comment after the visit Scalcione reported.

David Abel of the Globe staff contributed to this report.