Weymouth, Mass.
Dozens of worshipers shut themselves inside St. Albert the Great church this week to prevent the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston from closing it down. Archbishop Sean O’Malley announced this summer that he was closing 82 parishes to shore up church finances. The archdiocese was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy when it agreed to pay $100 million to alleged victims in the clerical sex abuse scandal. But parishioners said St. Albert was in sound financial shape, with no debt and $200,000 in the bank. Parish leaders vowed to stay as long as it took to save the church. “The bottom line is, we own this church,” said parishioner Sharon Harrington, a lawyer.
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