MASSACHUSETTS
The Independent (UK)

Parishioners in Massachusetts vow to continue their 11-year sit-in and save their church from closure

DAVID USBORNE SCITUATE Sunday 14 June 2015

It was bad enough that the Archdiocese of Boston had included their church, with its full pews and healthy finances, among the 70 it was eliminating in the name of streamlining. Worse was how, when the moment came, they broke a promise to let the parishioners stay put for just a few extra days. To say goodbye.

“They came in under the cover of darkness, they ransacked the place and then they changed the locks,” parishioner Jon Rogers recalled, pointing to outlines on the brick walls of the main sanctuary where statues used to watch over the congregation. “The Blessed Mother was there, and Joseph over here, both gone.”

It’s hard to believe, even for him, that this was back in October 2004….