MASSACHUSETTS
WCVB

BOSTON —For nearly 11 years now, parishioners have protested the closing of their church on the Massachusetts seacoast, keeping round-the-clock vigil there and holding Sunday services even though the Roman Catholic Church has de-consecrated the sanctuary.

Thursday, the Friends of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church continued to stand their ground, announcing plans to appeal a judge’s order to vacate the church by May 29. They also will appeal the judicial decisions leading up to the ruling and want the judge’s order suspended, pending a decision by the Massachusetts Appeals Court, said Mary Elizabeth Carmody, an attorney for the group.

“There were a number of decisions that handcuffed us at trial,” Carmody said.

The motions were filed in Norfolk Superior Court, where Judge Edward Leibensperger held the one-day trial earlier this month. The trial focused on the question: Who holds title to the church land?

Leibensperger said the…