Parishioners won’t go

The week's news at a glance.

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.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us