A pseudo-Catholic church (I hesitate to call them even schismatic) has been summarily evicted from the former Catholic church they were subleasing in my hometown of Salem, Mass.
St. Mary’s Italian church was closed in 2003 (long before the current parish reorganization) and the building was eventually sold to a Protestant congregation that runs the city’s homeless shelter, The Salem Mission. That has allowed the mission to expand its services and the local Catholic parishes were enthusiastic about that because we’re all supporters of what they do.
However, we were a bit dismayed when we found out last year that the mission would allow a parish of The Catholic Church in America (not your father’s Catholic Church: gays, women priests, etc., etc.) to use the sanctuary. Now it appears the Open Door United Church of Christ has had second thoughts. They claim that a former minister approved the lease, but it has never been formally approved.
The article hints that local Catholics may have protested, but I haven’t heard naything about it. I have a feeling that if anything was said, it came from the archdiocese, who usually put codicils in sales agreements about acceptable uses for the former church buildings.
This is a good thing. It will hopefully prevent them from tricking any more unwitting Catholics into thinking they are a legitimate Catholic church.
