Parishioners told to end vigil at Scituate church by March 9

By Jessica Trufant
Patriot Ledger
February 9, 2015

http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20150209/NEWS/150207001/2002/LIFESTYLE

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church parishioner Heather Santosuosso of Scituate walks through the church Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015, with her dog Cabrini during Santosuosso's vigil shift.

SCITUATE - The Archdiocese of Boston has ordered parishioners to end their decade-long occupation of the closed St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church by March 9 or face legal recourse.

Terrence Donilon, a spokesman for the archdiocese, on Sunday said the archdiocese has informed parishioners in writing that they must vacate the Hood Road building by March 9.

St. Frances was among dozens of Boston-area churches pegged for closure in 2004 as part of a reconfiguration plan designed to shrink the archdiocese’s growing debt.

But some parishioners refused to leave their churches, including the Friends of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church, who in October celebrated 10 years of holding a continuous vigil.

While the archdiocese has considered the church a deconsecrated building since October 2004, parishioners have kept its doors open for more than 3,700 days.

Donilon said there have been several attempts to encourage parishioners to accept and adhere to the rulings of the highest court at the Vatican that the Boston archdiocese may sell the building.

“Recently the group informed the Archdiocese of Boston it would not vacate the building despite having no further canonical appeals available to them,” Donilon said in a statement. “If they fail to vacate the building by (March 9) the Archdiocese will pursue civil recourse against the group. We continue to work toward a peaceful and prayerful resolution.”

But Peter Borre of the Council of Parishes in Boston, an adviser to the Friends of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, said Sunday that the group has a special appeal pending at the level of Pontifical Council, a legislative arm of the Vatican.

After visiting Rome on the matter last week, Borre said the appeal has been accepted for review, and he hopes for a ruling in the next few months.

“I’m hoping that the Archdiocese will give this Pontifical Council the chance of issuing a ruling before they send in the police dogs,” Borre said. “They already waited 10-and-a-half years; couldn’t they wait three or four more months?”

Since the vigil started, several longtime members have taken turns holding a service each Sunday. They use host that has been consecrated by a sympathetic priest whose identity is kept a secret.

Parishioner Heather Santosuosso sat in the church Sunday afternoon with her boxer, Cabrini, for their vigil shift. Santosuosso said she joined the vigil on its second day back in 2004, when Cabrini was only 4 months old.

Santosuosso declined to comment on the notice to vacate the church, but she said about 15 people attended the 10 a.m. service Sunday.

Jon and Maryellen Rogers, who started the 24-hour vigil and serve as spokespeople for the Friends, on Sunday said they haven’t had a chance to review the archdiocese’s letter, as they’re out of town.

“After 10 years of doing this, the message remains the same: we’ll do everything humanly possible to save our church,” Jon Rogers said. “Operations will stay the same. We’re steadfast in our resolve to seek justice.”

Rather than a “plea for mercy,” Borre said the ongoing appeal is a “legal brief based on numbers and facts” that asks the highest court to resolve what he called audit inconsistencies.

An audit of the archdiocese’s finances showed a surplus of $41 million in fiscal 2013 and $35 million in fiscal 2014, which is contrary to archdiocese statements justifying the selling of St. Frances, Borre said. The financial reports of the Archdiocese are available for public viewing on its website.

“The basic reason for closing St. Frances as argued by the archdiocese was the extreme financial difficulties of the Archdiocese of Boston, but that is no longer the case,” he said. “We’re asking the Pontifical Council to reopen the case because the reason for closing the parish is no longer there.”

Donilon on Sunday referred to his previous comment to The Patriot Ledger in August, when he called Borre’s assertion that the Archdiocese has a surplus of $41 million “false and misleading.” He said the account used to support the officially closed parish was actually down $5 million from the previous year at the time of the audit, and any surplus is held by the 288 parishes.

“While our overall financial situation has stabilized, I can assure the faithful we are not operating with a surplus and there are many major challenges remaining,” he said at that time. “Canon law does not allow us to take savings from these parishes and give it to the closed Scituate parish.”