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	Church Protests Continue after Closings By Brooke Donald The Associated Press, carried in Newsday.com [Europe] May 8, 2005 BOSTON -- Protests ranging from round-the-clock vigils to appeals to the pope are continuing almost a year after the Archdiocese of Boston listed churches it planned to close because of dwindling numbers of priests and worshippers -- and a shortage of cash blamed in part on the clergy sex abuse crisis. On Sunday, 72-year-old Hildagard Dreist stood in the cold outside Holy Trinity Church, slated to be closed next month, which she has been attending for about 30 years. Dreist handed out green slips of paper for parishioners to drop into the church donation baskets to protest the impending closure. The donation baskets were intended to collect money to help fund the archdiocese newspaper and other Catholic communications projects. "They haven't communicated with us, so we're not giving them money," Dreist said. "We have tried so many avenues to get answers. Today, we'll try this." Holy Trinity Church is one of 20 parishes the archdiocese plans to close. Fifty-nine parishes already have been closed or merged in the year since Archbishop Sean O'Malley launched the reorganization. Three hundred parishes remain for the 144 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts that make up the archdiocese. "We understand that this is not an easy process," said Terry Donilon, a spokesman for the archdiocese. "This is not something that people enjoy going through. But we also understand that it's an essential process for the long-term health of the church." Round-the-clock vigils are under way at seven other churches slated for closing and worshippers gathered to start a new vigil at St. Jeremiah church in Framingham -- set to close this coming Friday. A coalition has started developing a strategy to challenge the archdiocese in court and at least 16 parishes are awaiting decisions from Pope Benedict XVI on appeals that claim the closings violate the Catholic Church's Code of Canon Law. On Christmas Eve, police arrested two parishioners who attempted a vigil to protect the 114-year-old parish served by Holy Trinity. They were briefly jailed on trespassing charges and told not to come within 100 yards of the church. "If they had said something, maybe we'd feel better," said Barbara Bridge, 63. "To be tossed out like you're not even worth explaining to, that just doesn't feel right."
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