A cause for celebration

WEYMOUTH -- To the Archdiocese of Boston, St. Albert the Great has been closed for two months now. But the parking lot was full yesterday, and cars were parked up and down the street as well as in nearby lots. Inside, it was standing room only.

There was music. There was prayer. There were flowers on the altar. There were grandparents, parents, college students, grade-school kids, babies, and toddlers -- more than 400 people, the overflow standing at the back. There was the liturgy and the Eucharist and a meditation on the gospel.

Afterward, in the parish hall, there was ziti and lasagna and meatballs and salad made by KC's Pub and Grill, and a table groaning with desserts provided by parishioners. In the garage were 30 cartons and 10 bags bearing food for the Weymouth Food Pantry. A box or can of food was the entry fee to the parish's 54th birthday party.

And so they came with their cereal and peanut butter, and with their hopes and prayers, to show support for the church that has been in a round-the-clock vigil for 65 days, since the final Mass on Aug. 29. On a beautiful Halloween morning, the stained-glass windows of the saints were open to a gentle breeze, which carried the strains of "We Will Rise Again."

Mary Akoury, the cochairwoman of the pastoral council, greeted parishioners with a reflection on what has happened since the church was "suppressed," or officially closed. "We can point to the 24-hour perpetual vigil that has kept our doors open, the daily prayer services that are always well attended, the committees that have been organized to address all aspects of operating a parish, the established funds that now meet our expenses, the civil lawsuit we have filed, the appeal to Rome. . . . What do you think? Are we still the same vibrant parish community that we were prior to Sept. 1?" Her rhetorical question was met with loud applause.

What has become clear in the past two months is that the people of St. Albert's are running their own parish, from maintaining the buildings and grounds to providing for the spiritual and social lives of parishioners. And no one seems more surprised than parishioners themselves.

"When we voted to challenge the decision of the archdiocese to close our parish, the parishioners of St. Albert's set into motion a chain of events, unprecedented in the history of the Archdiocese of Boston," Akoury told parishioners. "We never imagined that our efforts would be looked upon by some as 'groundbreaking' and that we would receive national and international attention. We never realized that our efforts would spur other parishes to follow suit and would move the archdiocese in directions they never anticipated they would need to go in."

What they simply realized back then was that their parish should never have been closed, she said. Parishioners, who have collected $120,000 in a legal fund, filed a civil lawsuit against the archdiocese and a canon appeal to Rome. Both are pending.

St. Albert's is one of 82 churches slated to close by the end of the year in a process that Archbishop Sean O'Malley has deemed necessary because of declining attendance and collections, decrepit buildings, and a shortage of priests. According to the archdiocesan website, 42 churches have either closed or merged so far. Of those, seven congregations have refused to leave the property, conducting round-the-clock vigils; two, including St. Albert's, have filed lawsuits against the archdiocese.

Although St. Albert's met none of the stated criteria for closing -- its pews and coffers were full, its buildings in impeccable shape -- the archdiocese said Weymouth could no longer support five churches; St. Albert's, with 1,500 members, is the smallest of the five. On Sept. 1, the Rev. Ron Coyne turned over the keys to the rectory and left for his home in West Roxbury.

Coyne, who took over St. Albert's at the height of the archdiocese's priest sex abuse scandal, was not at yesterday's party. Under Coyne, St. Albert's added sports teams, a color guard, a spiritual book group, a health care ministry, and other programs. Prior debt was turned into a surplus, and people who had left the church under a former pastor returned.

When St. Albert's closed, Coyne was placed on the archdiocese's Emergency Response Team, meaning he would fill in temporarily where needed. But he has yet to receive a placement. Akoury said Coyne is spending time fixing up his home, visiting friends, reading, officiating at weddings and funerals, and visiting sick parishioners. "I would really question the underlying motives of the archdiocese as to why he has not received any temporary assignment, especially when we consistently hear that one of the reasons for closing parishes is a shortage of priests," she said.

All the parish's former priests were invited to the celebration; only one attended, and he was warmly greeted by parishioners. The Rev. Laurence Borges, who spent 11 years at St. Albert's, came from St. Stephen's in Framingham. "I'm absolutely amazed at the number of people here today," Borges told the packed parish hall. "I never expected to see this number. I wish I could bring you some good news. But I do pray somehow or other something or other will happen."

Stymied by the occupation of the suppressed churches, the archdiocese recently appointed a panel of outsiders to look into the closing process. St. Albert's has asked the committee to meet with parish representatives but has not heard back. Meanwhile, life continues at the church, with full sign-up sheets for the vigil, a weekly bulletin, twice-daily prayers services, and social events. There's a letter-writing campaign asking elected officials for support. Yesterday's bulletin boasted that since the parish website was started in September, it has had 38,000 hits.

Mums have been planted out front, and the "Beep for St. Albert's" sign has been removed from the lawn because neighbors complained about honks in the evening. It would seem that parishioners are settling in for the holidays. In addition to several standing committees, a holiday committee has just been formed.

On Dec. 4, two buses have been rented to go to LaSalette Shrine in Attleboro. On Dec. 17, buses will also take parishioners to see the Rockettes in Boston. Volunteers are stripping and waxing the parish hall floor and repairing the cafeteria-style chairs. Fire inspectors have given the church a clean bill of health.

Some of those who love St. Albert's are now attending two churches: St. Albert's and another one of their choice in town. Bill and Pat Connor, who raised five children at St. Albert's, attend Sunday Mass at Sacred Heart as well as prayer services at St. Albert's. Ann Hawkes sends her two sons to Sacred Heart for religious education, but she continues to attend St. Albert's services nightly. The three of them spend every Saturday night sleeping in the church pews.

"I'm absolutely heartbroken this has happened," Hawkes said. "I was married here. My children were christened here; they received their First Communion here. These people are people of faith. This is what religion is. This is what the church is, and I don't know why the archdiocese doesn't see it."

Dot Peterson, a member of the pastoral council, says she has tried Mass at three other Weymouth churches. "But it's just not home," she said. "This is our home. They took our father, and they tried to split up our family."

The church ovens are being measured to see how many turkeys they can hold. Mary Lou Madigan and Mary Norton, first cousins, have told their adult children and grandchildren to be prepared to have Thanksgiving dinner at a new spot this year: St. Albert's.