A second group of Catholics in the Archdiocese of Boston is occupying their former church to force the archbishop to reverse his decision to close it. This group is in Sudbury at the former St. Anselm’s parish. Actually, it’s not “former” yet since it’s slated for closing on Wednesday. Like the people at St. Albert’s, these people claim they own the church, not the archdiocese. Like I’ve said before, even if they’re right and a court gives them ownership of the property, it changes nothing. A parish is not the building, it is an entity under the control of the archbishop and if he suppresses it, it is suppressed. Nobody can force him to set up a parish or assign a priest to it. In the end, these people either decide to remain Catholic or end up in schism; there’s no middle ground.
It looks like they’re headed for schism. Just look at these excerpts from the article.
They have switched the church utilities over to the name of one of the parishioners to avoid having them shut off by the archdiocese.
... “The end will be our choice, not the archdiocese,” said Fiona Keating of Sudbury, a preschool teacher with three children, who plans to take part in the vigil. “We’re not done with the building yet. I don’t feel that was our last service.”