Archbishop announces that two parish closings postponed

By Mark Pratt, Associated Press, 10/16/2004 14:17

BOSTON (AP) Two parishes selected for closure by the Boston Archdiocese have been granted reprieves, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley announced on Saturday.

St. Bernard in Newton, originally scheduled to close on Oct. 25, will remain open until further notice to allow additional meetings between the archdiocese and parishioners, O'Malley said in a statement. The archdiocese plans to establish a later closing date for St. Bernard.

St. Mary of the Angels in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood, also scheduled to close this month, will stay open an additional two years so it can provide assistance in reducing neighborhood violence. The parish will be staffed by the Jesuits for the next two years.

The decision to delay the closings was made by O'Malley with input from the reconfiguration review committee recently formed by the archbishop to examine the church closings.

''My hope is that by delaying the closing of St. Bernard's we will be able to provide additional assistance to the parishioners who are finding this process particularly difficult,'' O'Malley said. ''At St. Mary of the Angels, the archdiocese desires to provide a pastoral presence in the surrounding neighborhood in light of recent increase in crime and concern for the well-being of local residents.''

St. Bernard, a 130-year-old parish with a congregation of 1,300 registered families, was selected for closure even though it's larger than two nearby Catholic parishes, and that puzzled some parishioners, said its pastor, the Rev. Paul Kilroy.

Despite the reprieve, Kilroy said he believes the parish will still close.

''I think the archdiocese feels that perhaps there wasn't as much communication about the reasons behind (the closing) as there should have been,'' Kilroy said. ''They are reaching out to us now to clarify why we are closing.''

St. Mary is located in a largely minority section of the city and celebrates some Masses in Spanish.

In a statement, the Rev. David Gill, pastor of St. Mary's, said, ''We are pleased to have the opportunity to serve our church community and the larger neighborhood in whatever ways will be most helpful.''

In May, O'Malley announced a massive restructuring of the archdiocese that included the closure or consolidation of 82 parishes. He said the reduction was needed because of declining Mass attendance, a shortage of priests and a financial crisis caused in part by the clergy sex abuse scandal.

While most parishes have closed quietly, others have resisted, including three that are staging high-profile sit-ins. Parishioners from at least seven parishes, including St. Bernard, have formed a group called the Council of Parishes, to fight the closures.

''I certainly welcome these reprieves for St. Mary and St. Bernard, but in the context of 82 parishes closed or scheduled to close, these measures strike me as very limited,'' said Peter Borre, a member of the Friends of St. Catherine of Siena parish in Boston's Charlestown neighborhood, which is a member of the Council of Parishes.