Decade-Long Dispute Over Closed Church Goes Before Appeals Judge

An appeals judge in Massachusetts is weighing whether to end a nearly 11-year standoff between parishioners illegally occupying a Catholic church and the Archdiocese of Boston.

Judge Judd Carhart heard arguments Wednesday from the archdiocese and the protest group, the Friends of St. Frances X. Cabrini, which has occupied St. Frances Cabrini Church around-the-clock since 2004 when the archdiocese decided to close it and other Boston-area churches in an attempt to stabilize its finances.

The group says their fight is not only about protecting the rights of Catholics to worship in churches they've known their whole lives, but also a stand against the clergy sex abuse scandal that rocked the Boston-area before expanding nationally and globally.

The protesters want to remain in the church in Scituate, south of Boston, while they appeal a lower court ruling that ordered them to vacate earlier this month.

In a brief hearing packed with protesters and their supporters, the group's lawyer argued that the lower court judge made "several, consistent" legal errors and "abused" his discretion by, among other things, denying the group's request for a jury trial and not considering their arguments focused on church, or Canon law.

"It resulted in a decision by the court that is not well-reasoned, not supported by the evidence in the case and contrary to other Superior Court decisions," lawyer Mary Elizabeth Carmody said.

The archdiocese opposed the request, asserting their rights as property owners and the cost of maintaining the building since it's been illegally occupied.

"We have all the liability becoming of a property owner. We're carrying all the expenses," said William Dailey, the archdiocese lawyer.

The protesters have no right to be there, he said. "They knew from the moment they stepped in there that they were trespassers and could be arrested at any time."

The church sits on acres of prime, largely undeveloped real estate overlooking Massachusetts Bay near Cape Cod.