MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Herald
Brian Dowling Friday, March 04, 2016
Parishioners occupying St. Frances X. Cabrini Catholic Church in Scituate are making their last stand — petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to let them stay in their beloved church, which the Archdiocese of Boston has sought to close for more than a decade.
“We made a promise from Day 1 that we would exhaust every avenue of appeal, and this filing to the U.S. Supreme Court completes that promise,” said Jon Rogers, spokesman for the churchgoers, who have held vigil at the church since October 2004. “If they take this, I believe we will win.”
A Norfolk Superior Court judge ruled last May that the people holding vigil at the church were “trespassing,” siding with the archdiocese’s request to evict the parishioners. In October, the state Appeals Court upheld that decision, and the Supreme Judicial Court declined to review the case.
A deal between the parishioners and the archdiocese struck in December allows those holding vigil to stay in the church until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the petition for review — with the understanding that they would leave if the country’s highest court takes a pass on the case.
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