Archdiocese won't heat Everett church held by protesters

Charlie Gibbons of Saugus prayed yesterday at St. Therese Church, where he was baptized. (Josh Reynolds for the Boston Globe)

The Archdiocese of Boston, signaling that it is not willing to tolerate the occupation of closed parishes indefinitely, yesterday said it had decided not to repair a broken boiler that had supplied the heat to a closed Everett parish occupied by protesters for nearly four years.

The archdiocese also said it is "winterizing" St. Therese Church, which was constructed in 1928, by draining its pipes, meaning that the worshipers who have been sleeping there are facing a winter without heat or running water.

There are no immediate plans to attempt to evict the protesters, the archdiocese said, and it will instead pursue a strategy of "communication." But archdiocesan officials have long said that safety concerns could be a rationale for acting to end a vigil.

St. Therese is one of five church buildings that remain occupied, in protests widely dubbed "vigils," four years after Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley - citing a lack of worshipers, priests, and money - began closing about 18 percent of the 357 parishes in Greater Boston.

Archdiocesan spokesman Terrence C. Donilon said that the archdiocese has already spent $300,000 to maintain St. Therese for the protesters and that it was not prepared to spend the $50,000 needed to repair the boiler. He said the cost of maintaining and insuring all parishes that have been occupied by protesters, or that are the subject of canon and civil law challenges, is $880,000 a year, or $2.2 million since 2004.

"The Archdiocese of Boston is committed to ongoing communication and respectful dialogue with those persons involved with vigil," Donilon said in a written statement about the Everett church. "We continue to hope and pray that we can work together to resolve any remaining differences and go forward with the mission of the Church in the Archdiocese in Boston."

A spokeswoman for the vigil, Joan Shepard, said that there has been little communication between the archdiocese and the worshipers. She said about 20 to 30 people maintain the vigil by sleeping in the church overnight and keeping it open for prayers every day. She said the protesters believe the closing was unjust and want the parish reopened.

"We've been sitting in there with afghans, and we don't know whether they're going to lock it or not," she said. "We're going to continue to be here. They've turned off the boilers, but we have blankets, and we'll see."

At the church yesterday, several worshipers were praying the rosary and talking about the state of their vigil; plaster from the ceiling had fallen on a stack of collection baskets, while three cots had been set up in a room behind the sanctuary.

Carol Tumasz, who stated she sleeps in the church nightly, said, "God inspired us to help keep this open."

And Ginger Loughlin, a Protestant who lives in the neighborhood, said she has been participating in the vigil because "when I heard they were closing, I knew I had to come down and support them. I'm amazed at their hope."

The protesters professed not to be concerned about the lack of heat; they said the boiler had been unreliable and that they could use electric blankets.

Peter Borre, the cochairman of the Council of Parishes, a coalition of Catholics resisting some of the closings, said that the St. Therese parishioners have not filed canon or civil law challenges to the closing but that the archdiocese has not responded by engaging with those unhappy over the closing. Borre also said the cost of maintaining the closed parishes is small compared to the overall archdiocesan budget.

"Whether open or closed, the archdiocese would have to be paying insurance and heat to safeguard these closed parish properties, unless they could find a willing buyer - not likely in today's economy," Borre said in an e-mail.

"Why doesn't Cardinal O'Malley do the right thing and reopen St. Therese, as he has done for four other vigil parishes? Is it because the favored four are in more affluent towns than Everett - in Weymouth, Sudbury, Quincy, and Brookline? Is that social justice?"

Donilon responded, "Absolutely not true. Mr. Borre's assertion is irresponsible and baseless. He continues to offer nothing to promote positive dialogue at a time when we are working with Catholics across the archdiocese to promote rebuilding and healing."

Globe correspondent Jeannie M. Nuss contributed to this report from Everett. Michael Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com and is blogging about religion at www.boston.com/religion.