Request to reopen church denied

Denied their request to reopen their church and celebrate Christmas Mass, parishioners from Our Lady of Mount Carmel left a meeting with Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley yesterday shaken and more determined to continue occupying the Italian-American parish in East Boston.

Gina Scalcione, 64, Neffo Cappuccio, 30, and Lisa Capogreco, 30, all longtime Mount Carmel worshipers, sat for more than an hour across a table from O'Malley at his brick rectory in the South End and repeatedly beseeched him to reopen their century-old church, to allow a priest to say Christmas Mass there, and to personally visit with them during their vigil.

But O'Malley, who was joined by a clerical aide and a layperson in his office, politely and steadfastly rejected their requests, the parishioners said. He said that to allow a priest to say Christmas Mass at Mount Carmel would make it harder for members to adjust to their new church, Sacred Heart Parish in East Boston, the parishioners said.

O'Malley also asked that parishioners hold their vigil during the daytime only for safety reasons, they said, and declined to meet with them further.

''The only thing that he offered us is that we can go home and sleep, and I told him 'no way,' but I will bring it to the parishioners," Scalcione said. ''He told us that he worries about us being safe. I said 'We're very safe.'

''And three times I asked him to come to our church and see the feeling and the love of our church. And we talked very comfortable, but I don't see him giving us anything at this point. He believes there's too many churches there and you have to get used to going to another church."

The church is one of more than 80 slated to close. Parishioners believe it was targeted because of its real estate value, not its revenue.

Cappuccio said O'Malley's rejection would strengthen the parishioners' resolve. Our Lady of Mount Carmel, on Gove Street, attracts a mix of immigrant and second-generation Italian Catholics and had been one of the region's few churches where Mass was said in Italian. Since the church closed Oct. 12, some parishioners have taken turns occupying the church, as have worshipers at seven other closed parishes.

''The vigil will continue strongly, if not even stronger at this point, because the Italians have built the church, built the community, and basically, the Italians do not give up," Cappuccio said. ''We stick together strongly and even more so at hard times."

Capogreco said she was hurt by O'Malley's refusal to allow Christmas Mass at the church, after he met last week with parishioners from St. Albert the Great in Weymouth, who also are holding a vigil, and allowed them to host Christmas Mass.

In a statement, the archdiocese explained that O'Malley ''empathized with their desire to have Mass at Christmas in the church . . . Archbishop Sean expressed concern about the effect a Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel would have on the ongoing parish transition in East Boston. Many former parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Carmel now belong to Sacred Heart Parish, the welcoming parish, where many will celebrate Christmas this year."

St. Albert the Great also has a greater share of its parishioners holding vigil than Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a fact alluded to in the archdiocese's statement. ''The transition for most parishioners to Sacred Heart parish is substantively underway and the archbishop did not want to disrupt that process for the many involved," the statement read.

Capogreco responded: ''I don't think that makes sense because the pain that we're feeling right now, it surpasses the pain that he would foresee at a midnight Mass. In fact, I think it would be a night of unity and of hope of just being together and not so much of false hope that the church will stay open. Just give us that step, and we weren't granted that."

Peter Borre, cochairman of the Council of Parishes, a coalition of parishioners unhappy with the closings process, said he was dismayed by O'Malley's stance. ''The polite way of expressing my reaction is that it's a disappointment, and the candid way of expressing it is that I find it outrageous," Borre said. ''That this archbishop gives Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Masses to another parish in vigil and, through some kind of twisted reasoning that I don't understand, denies it to the parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Carmel -- this means it's going to be a very cold holiday period."

O'Malley has asked a committee of prominent Catholics reviewing the process to close parishes to meet with Mount Carmel parishioners and give them another forum to air their grievances.

The archdiocese and some Mount Carmel parishioners described yesterday's meeting as cordial. The archdiocese called it ''sincere, forthright, and helpful."

Still, Scalcione was upset.

''I told him we are suffering, and we will keep on going, suffering," Scalcione said. ''That's what the vigil is all about. It's not a vigil. It's actually a suffering -- by sleeping on the floor, by crying, by saying the prayers, by trying to maintain a church."

In a related development, St. James Church in Stoughton, which was scheduled to close, will now remain open, at least temporarily. Instead, a different church in Stoughton, Our Lady of the Rosary Church, may close, said Ann Carter, an archdiocesan spokeswoman. A formal decision will be made in January, Carter said. The decision to keep St. James open for now and possibly close Our Lady of the Rosary was made because Our Lady of the Rosary needs significant renovations, Carter said.

The decision was made after a unanimous recommendation by a committee of members of both churches who cited maintenance problems at Our Lady of the Rosary, which could cost $500,000 to fix. The Rev. John Kelly of St. James Church told parishioners the news yesterday. ''I'm 98 percent sure that we are going to maintain here at St. James," he said.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.