The first results from Archbishop Sean O’Malley’s new reconfiguration review commission have come out. The archdiocese announced today that two parishes are getting a reprieve. St. Bernard’s in Newton, which was set to close October 25 has been postponed indefinitely to allow more meetings between the archdiocese and parishioners, and St. Mary of the Angels in Roxbury, which will stay open for two more years so it can “provide assistance in reducing neighborhood violence.” The latter parish is administered by Jesuits.
I can guess why St. Bernard’s was chosen: It is the next one on the list that is most likely to stage a sit-in. In order to prevent the appearance that a rebellion has broken out, the archdiocese’s new spinmeisters undoubtedly said that either way the parish’s situation won’t be settled soon, so it may as well look like the archdiocese’s initiative. I’ll give them points for being proactive rather than reactive, which is something I’ve been urging the Church to be fore years.
