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St. Frances
Xavier Cabrini is the last of a half-dozen Boston-area churches
that parishioners have occupied 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, since 2004 when the archdiocese listed it among some 70
parishes to be closed in a restructuring.
The Boston Archdiocese ordered the closure of the church,
located on a 30-acre (12-hectare) plot of land on the waterfront
in Scituate, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Boston, in a
round of cost-cutting dating to the early days of the clergy sex
abuse scandal.
A Massachusetts Superior Court judge in June ordered an end to
the long occupation, saying the remaining parishioners have
shown "a stubborn refusal to accept the reality of final
decisions of the courts."
Other groups that had occupied parishes have since abandoned
their vigils or lost in the courts.
The parishioners' group, The Friends of St. Frances X. Cabrini
Inc, immediately appealed the June decision, setting the stage
for Wednesday's hearing, where lawyers for both sides are
expected to make their cases to a three-judge panel.
No immediate ruling is expected.
The decision to shutter the church and others like it dates to
the early days of the sex abuse scandal, when investigations
showed that Roman Catholic Church leaders had covered up charges
of priests sexually abusing children, moving ministers into new
positions when accusations were made.
The scandal prompted dozens of lawsuits by abuse survivors,
which cost the U.S. church billions of dollars and drove some
prominent dioceses into bankruptcy.
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Bill Trott)
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