News from Newton

The news is out: the new leadership at the embattled Our Lady Help of Christians parish in Newton will be a team ministry (I didn't think they did those anymore?) between the Rev. John E. Sassani and the Rev. Joseph Keil, starting April 18.

I first broke the news of Sassani's assignment Thursday on this blog; he is the administrator at St. Theresa Church in Sherborn, director of the office of spiritual development at the archdiocese, and had served as a liaison between the protesters occupying St. Anselm Church in Sudbury and the archdiocese. Sassani had previously lived and worked at both Our Lady's and a parish it had absorbed, St. Jean's. I met him very early during my time on this beat, and found him to be thoughtful and clear-spoken and warm; obviously, the situation in Newton is a very tough assignment.

Keil, ordained in 2001, is a less familiar face, at least to me. He is currently serving in his first assignment, as the parochial vicar at St. Agatha Church in Milton, and that church announces his new posting in the bulletin this weekend.

The team will attempt to end a period of extraordinary turmoil at the Newton parish, which had been one of the largest and most vibrant in the archdiocese until the archdiocese demanded the resignation of the 12-year pastor, the Rev. Walter H. Cuenin, over disputed allegations of financial wrongdoing. Cuenin is now the Catholic chaplain at Brandeis University; his friend and parochial vicar, the Rev. Paul Kilroy, is being transferred to St. Joseph Church in Medford effective April 5 (See the St. Joseph's bulletin for that development). Cuenin had been succeeded by the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, but the baggage of Coyne's time as archdiocesan spokesman during the abuse crisis, and the unhappiness at the parish over Cuenin's ouster, caused Coyne to resign after just four months. Coyne said in this weekend's bulletin that he will stay at Our Lady's until April 24 to help with the transition, and that he is awaiting his next assignment.