MASSACHUSETTS
Boston.com
[with video]
By Allison Pohle @AllisonPohle Video by Ryan Breslin
Boston.com Staff | 10.15.15
Nancy Shilts looked beyond the open doors of St. Frances X Cabrini Church Wednesday afternoon during her vigil shift. Dark clouds hung in the sky, but she couldn’t stop searching for what she called a “sign from heaven,” that something good was going to happen.
It never came.
When she left the Scituate church that night, the sky was still dark. She had just heard the news that she and the other parishioners of the church had lost their appeal. The state appeals court ruled that the parishioners of St. Frances X. Cabrini Church were trespassing, and would need to leave.
They haven’t.
About 100 parishioners—known as the “Friends of St. Frances X. Cabrini”—have kept a 24-7 vigil inside their beloved church for nearly 11 years. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston decided to shutter the church in 2004 as part of its reorganization plan, but the group had other ideas. They’ve made sure at least one member of the church is inside at all times to prevent the archdiocese from closing it. …
St. Frances X Cabrini was one of many churches the archdiocese decided to close in 2004. Carmody said this was directly tied to the clergy sexual abuse scandal, when scores of Catholics left the church and the parishes didn’t have enough funds to keep the doors open.
Carmody said two priests accused of sexual abuse have ties to the church. Thomas Forry was defrocked, and she said another unnamed priest left the church and reached a settlement with the victim’s family.
“The archdiocese will have you believe this is a separate issue, but it really isn’t,” Rogers said.
“The closing of the church is in a lineage of reactions. We here want to make sure there are no more victims and that churches are not sold off to repay the cost of sexual abuse. You don’t get to abuse children and then steal our church to pay for your sins.”
The clergy sexual abuse scandal is directly tied to the devotion the parishioners have for their church, he said.
“We ask: When does the pain stop?” Rogers said. “The pain the families have gone through is only exacerbated by the fact that you want to tear down this church. That’s where our inner anger comes from. That’s why we’re still here.”
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