I agree. I wrote about this situation in another thread. This church is one of five parishes in the town of Weymouth. It is the smallest in terms of population and does not have an attached school like some of the others - the other four chose this one to close because one of them had to close. The reality of the situation is that the Boston archdiocese is in financial trouble from a variety of reasons, the scandal being one of them. A shift in the topography of parishes in cities versus suburbs, declining attendence at Mass, less priests, etc. has driven this need to close parishes and its been needed for quite some time. Some people will suffer and that is very sad but it is a reality that needs to be faced. The parishioners at St. Albert’s are sadly misguided in their efforts. They are creating disunity in the church and scandal by going forth with their lawsuit of the archdiocese. And who planted the seeds to this form of dissention? Initially, it was their pastor , Fr. Ron Coyne, a priest who describes himself as “progressive”. He’s publically stated in an interview with The Boston Globe that he doesn’t believe in the doctrine of Hell. He also readily disagrees with the church on alot of hot button moral issues and has implied that Archbishop Sean O’Malley is targeting the parish because of his liberal views. The parishioners have bought into this dissention and are angry and distraught. The other 2 culprits in this mess is the dissident group, The Voice of the Faithful and The Boston Globe. The former group has encouraged the parishoners to rebel (this was one of the few parishes where Voice of the Faithful was allowed to meet on church property), while doling out their tired, worn-out lines of “support the priests but change the hierarchy” - in other words, be a democratic church like every other liberal Protestant denomination. The Globe has printed several articles about this case, each time scathingly criticizing the church while making the parishoners and their sit-in and lawsuit akin to the Boston Tea Party. The Globe is famously anti-catholic and takes any opportunity to take a shot at the church. My bet is that they will milk this one for as long as it takes. I have no doubt that many of the parishoners of St. Albert’s sincerely think that there doing the right thing but the truth is they’ve been duped and in the end it not only hurts them but the church at-large. I’ll continue to pray for unity in the church in Boston and the world.
