Keeping the faith
At St. Albert the Great in Weymouth, the end is near, and confusion and anger abound
First in an occasional series
WEYMOUTH -- It was 9:30 in the morning on Tuesday, May 25. The Rev. Ron Coyne was talking to parishioners outside the rectory at St. Albert the Great when a
But Coyne didn't read past the first sentence. He took the letter outside and went to face his flock. As he read, there was a collective gasp. Heads shook in disbelief. Tears flowed. Throughout the day, hundreds of parishioners streamed to the parking lot as if to a wake. Coyne was outside with them until after suppertime.
Everyone knew that word on church closings was to reach the parishes that day, but people had thought -- they had hoped and prayed -- that the word would be different, that their parish would be spared. Just that morning, Coyne had gone to a nearby party store and purchased 10 white and two gold helium-filled balloons. They were to be flown outside the parish if the news was good. But they remained in the rectory, and later that night Coyne popped them, one by one.
"The reaction of the parish was devastation and horror," Coyne recalls. "In some ways, I felt badly because I had encouraged them to believe it wouldn't happen. I didn't believe it would happen."
The Archdiocese of Boston has told 65 parishes they must close by year's end. Archbishop O'Malley has said the closings are necessary because of declining attendance, financial problems, the poor condition of many parish buildings, and a shortage of priests.
In Weymouth, St. Albert's was the one recommended for closing in a reluctant vote by committees from the town's five Catholic churches. But Coyne and his parishioners remained convinced that, once the archdiocese checked St. Albert's vital signs, the church would be saved. After all, no parish in Weymouth was healthier. Its sacramental index was high: 29 people had been married, 93 baptized, and 68 buried out of St. Albert's in 2003 -- more than in two other Weymouth churches that will remain open.
The four weekend masses are invariably packed, with 1,500 people attending regularly. Folding chairs were added in the back to accommodate the overflow, and still people stand. And unlike two other Weymouth parishes that escaped the guillotine, St. Albert's has no debt. Its buildings are considered in prime condition, better than most of its neighboring parishes.
To Coyne, the strongest proof of St. Albert's viability was its ability to do away with the periodic second collection. To eliminate the nettlesome tradition, Coyne proposed a goal of raising $35,000 in one drive last fall, all of it for charity. In fact, $50,000 was raised. In addition to its regular charities, the church was able to give $5,000 each to the Weymouth Food
And what about the three girls' softball teams, the boys' hockey team, the teen color guard, and the adult book group Coyne started? The health care ministry that sees to the medical needs of parishioners -- the only such ministry in Weymouth? The adult faith groups, track meets, Family Feud nights, trips to Atlantic City and the theater? If this wasn't a vibrant parish, what was?
In short, the church met none of the criteria for closing issued by the Archdiocese of Boston: debt, poor buildings, low attendance, and low sacramental index. Instead, the archdiocese said Weymouth cannot support five churches.
Ironically, St. Albert's success may have contributed to its demise. "St. Albert's is full already," says the Rev. Christopher Coyne, spokesman for the archdiocese, who is not related to Ron Coyne. "It could not take in more people . . . if you were to close any other parish." He adds that it is located in a part of town "where it could easily be taken into a surrounding parish."
Fighting back
At St. Albert's, people took the news as if it were a death in their extended family. As the initial shock wore off, they started plotting to keep their parish off death row. In pastoral council meetings, during a children's rally, and at a public hearing, parishioners have discussed strategies that include deluging the archdiocese with letters and e-mails, hiring lawyers, and getting busloads of people to converge on O'Malley's residence. Tomorrow a prayer and candlelight vigil will be held.
At the heart of the crisis is Ron Coyne. Two years ago, he came to St. Albert's on a short-term basis after the former pastor became ill. Father Coyne never left. "I liked them, and they liked me," says Coyne, 56, who grew up in Boston and attended St. John's Seminary in Brighton.
The same parishioners who love Coyne believe he may be the reason St. Albert's was targeted for closure. Coyne calls himself a "progressive priest" who speaks his mind. His church is the home of one of the first and strongest chapters of Voice of the Faithful -- the group that wants more lay involvement in church affairs -- and he signed a letter, along with 57 other priests, urging Cardinal Bernard Law to resign during the church's sexual abuse crisis. Many parishioners believe it's payback time for Coyne, though an analysis of the church-closings list does not suggest that the diocese has targeted activist priests.
"In my opinion, this is a punitive action against Ron Coyne," says Anne-Marie McCarthy, who has been a parishioner for 30 years. "There's no other reason." McCarthy, who is a lector and eucharistic minster, adds: "Two years ago, if our parish closed, we would have applauded. People were leaving the church. There were lots of empty seats. When Father Coyne came, I felt there was an environment of warmth, community, and faith."
On a recent weeknight, the church is filled to its capacity of 400 as a long line of speakers takes the microphone to discuss the closing. To a person, they praise Coyne; many say he is the reason they returned to the Catholic Church.
"There are clerics who seek power and priests who tend to their flock," says Vincent O'Keefe. "Our pastor tends to his flock. Before, St. Albert's had a cleric, and people left in droves. But then a shepherd came in, and he brought this parish back to where it is today."
The vote
In a scene that mimics the reality TV show "Survivor," each geographic cluster of churches was ordered to vote one of its own off the archdiocesan island. In Weymouth, the committees refused to take a vote at the first two meetings, saying all five churches were viable and none should close. At the third meeting, the pastor at Immaculate Conception, the Rev. Paul Miceli, insisted on a vote. Miceli had been a member of Cardinal Law's cabinet during the sex abuse crisis. Without any discussion on the merits, a secret ballot was taken. St. Albert's lost, the others said, because it was physically the smallest and had no school (nor does Immaculate Conception).
When Coyne drafted the letter to the archdiocese saying it was still the cluster's "unanimous" belief that no church should close, Miceli refused to sign it. Instead, the wording went out that "the majority" felt no church should close.
Miceli did not return phone calls from the Globe yesterday.
The five-member contingent from St. Albert's was shocked at the vote and angered by Miceli's actions, which many felt were for self-preservation. According to sources in the meeting, the vote showed that his parish was second in line for closing. "We felt it wasn't done fairly," says Don Gustafson, a member of the contingent. "We believe that Father Miceli waited until after the vote before announcing he believed that a parish should close."
Still, the parish remained optimistic: Churches with full Masses and collection baskets just aren't shuttered. "I told people not to worry. The archdiocese would look at our numbers and do the right thing," says Coyne.
But recently he received a letter from Bishop Richard Lennon asking him to pick a date by Sept. 1 for St. Albert's to close. To Coyne, it's like choosing an execution date for his church. "I've said from day one, two questions need to be asked: Why aren't people going to church, and why aren't people becoming priests? If we were to answer those questions, we wouldn't have to close churches. But guess what the easy thing is? To close churches."
Looking for reasons
The question being asked these days at St. Albert's is a simple one: Why?
Parishioners freely invoke the names of other churches throughout Boston that have debt, low attendance, and decrepit buildings. At Mass on Sunday, someone produced a letter sent last week by the Rev. Paul Sughrue of St. Clare's, in neighboring Braintree, to his own parishioners. It began: "On May 25, St. Clare Parish was informed that it will remain an `open' parish." He wrote that Mass attendance fell by 280 people per weekend betweeen 1998 and 2003.
"On average, there are 400 empty seats at each of our four weekend Masses . . . Furthermore approximately 75% of those registered in religious education do not attend weekend Masses . . . The empty bench is very noticeable and terribly disconcerting and disheartening . . . Diminished numbers also mean decreasing finances. Our parish budget is extremely tight."
People at St. Albert's cannot fathom how a struggling parish like St. Clare's can remain open while their parish folds. "Where does it say they're closing healthy, vibrant, engaged parishes?" asks Colin Riley. In the pews, there are murmurings about how the archdiocese is targeting churches for their valuable real estate or activist priests and about the link between church closings and the sex abuse crisis.
"I think they're looking for places that can pull in money and places where there are fires," says Sharon Harrington, who travels from Scituate to attend St. Albert's. "We're a parish that is progressive. We're not authoritarian. We have the most active Voice of the Faithful chapter on the South Shore. A lot of priests of closing churches have been very vocal against the sex abuse crisis and very supportive of the victims."
O'Malley has assured priests that the outspoken among them were not singled out, nor were churches with high property values. Of the 65 parishes to close, nine have pastors who called for Law to resign; 22 others headed by priests who also called for the resignation will remain open. (Others who signed the letter calling for Law's resignation do not head parishes.)
Asked what he believes, Coyne will only say: "My future will tell me what is true. It's what happens from here on out."
And what of the stated argument against St. Albert's -- that its sanctuary is the smallest in town? Parishioners see that as an asset, not a liability. "I come here because it's a warm, welcoming place," says Harrington. "In other places, it's very impersonal; you feel like an ant. Being small is a benefit. People know each other."
Even so, attendance has tripled at St. Albert's since Coyne came in, and 285 children are enrolled in the religious education program. When Coyne arrived, the church owed the archdiocese $153,000 and had $63,000 in outstanding utility and maintenance bills. All were paid off by this spring. Four years ago, parishioners donated $150,000 for 50 stained-glass windows of the saints, and last year they commissioned a statue of St. Albert that cost $8,000.
A roller coaster ride
According to renowned psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, there are five stages of dying. The first is denial; the parishioners of St. Albert's have already gone through that, believing that their church would not make the list. Anger is the second step, and that's where St. Albert's is these days.
Parishioners are angry not only because of the decision but because no one from the archdiocese has responded to their letters or e-mails. At the June 9 parish hearing, state Representative Jamie Murphy, who grew up in St. Albert's parish, noted that church officials constantly call him about abortion or gay marriage but have yet to answer his letters or pleas to visit St. Albert's.
Meanwhile, the church's pastoral council has spoken to attorneys to determine possible ways of keeping St. Albert's open. Coyne is caught in the middle -- trying to help people deal with the reality of closing, and trying to stop it from taking place.
Last week, he met with the four other pastors in town to determine which parish will receive St. Albert's records of baptisms, weddings, and funerals. He says he must choose a closing date, "because if we don't pick one, I suppose they'll pick one for us."
"We're on a roller coaster ride, emotionally," he says. Next month, the archdiocese is to issue a decree formalizing the closing date. The church has 10 days to appeal, and O'Malley has 30 days to respond. After that, only an appeal to Rome can reverse the course, and that is unlikely.
Two weeks ago, the pastoral council hand-delivered a letter to O'Malley's secretary, stating the case for remaining open. The letter asked how the archdiocese would benefit from closing St. Albert's: "The net gain is one individual priest and church property. The net loss is the forced dispersal and emotional and spiritual devastation of more than 1,500 dedicated, spiritually sustained, committed and faithful Catholics."
Chancery officials haven't responded to the letter, or to numerous pleas to visit the church. They will, however, be sending representatives on July 6. That is the day the real estate appraisers will walk the grounds to assess what the property will bring.
