Time To Move On. Time For New Beginnings.

The National Catholic Reporter has posted on their website the Catholic News Service story of the Vatican rejecting the appeals of various closed parishes of the Archdiocese of Boston, to reverse the closings. These parishes were closed in 2004, when the Archdiocese determined that they had neither the funds nor the personnel to keep these churches open. At least three of these closed parishes have been occupied by former parishioners, maintaining 24/7 vigils.

I remember well those days; the Archdiocese called it a reconfiguration plan, a process to close inactive parishes. I personally felt that, however necessary it was, the process was ill conceived, and poorly implemented. It was another blow to a Catholic community already battered by the clergy abuse scandal. My own parish was on the short list to be closed. It was a very anxious period, but we survived because we successfully made the case to stay open. That said I really feel that it is time for these former parishioners to accept the inevitable, mourn your losses, and move on. The Catholic community is more than any one parish; it is a body of believers, united with all other believers in the world through our bishops, united in and through the Body of Christ. It is time to rejoin your sisters and brothers in Christ, and seek new beginnings