No reprieve, but new hope

EVERETT -- As word of Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley's decision to reverse the planned closing of five parishes spread across the region yesterday, there was anger and frustration vented in parishes not granted a reprieve, particularly those that have been holding vigils to protest their shuttering.

''I was shocked when I heard the news," said Doris Giardiello, clutching rosary beads as she sat in the pews of St. Therese Church in Everett, where parishioners were in their 234th day of vigil. ''We just keep hoping and praying, but we haven't heard anything. It's just too painful to walk away. I just wish we had a reason. Why us?"

Others saw hope for themselves in the reversals. ''We are very pleased to hear what happened to them," said Norma Cappuccio, as she polished the pews at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in East Boston. ''We all call each other. We all support each other."

The reprieves were recommended by a predominantly lay panel appointed by O'Malley in response to unrest over his sweeping effort to reconfigure the Archdiocese of Boston. The archbishop has closed 62 of the archdiocese's 357 parishes since last summer and still plans to close another 14, saying that a shortage of priests, parishioners, and money required the moves.

On Thursday, O'Malley announced he plans to allow two Boston parishes -- St. Mary of the Angels in Roxbury's Egleston Square and St. Peter, a parish formed to serve Lithuanian immigrants in South Boston -- to remain open. In the suburbs, St. Pius X in Milton, St. Isidore in Stow, and Sacred Heart in Watertown will remain open.

Also, in Brookline, Infant Jesus-St. Lawrence Parish, which had been occupied by protesters since it closed Oct. 30, will reopen as a chapel of the other parish in town, St. Mary of the Assumption.

On Monday, O'Malley issued a decree formally reopening St. Albert the Great Church in Weymouth, where protesters holding a vigil for 10 months decided last night to continue their occupation until at least the July Fourth weekend, when they hope to return to a full schedule of Masses.

Colin Riley, a spokesman for St. Albert's, said the parish also plans to continue an overnight vigil every Friday night after the church reopens. The vigil has been an important community-builder for parish members, he said.

Seven other parishes remain occupied by parishioners trying to force O'Malley to reverse closing decisions.

Peter Meade -- an executive vice president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts who cochaired the reconfiguration review panel with Sister Janet Eisner, president of Emmanuel College -- said a number of factors guided the decision-making and that vigils were but one consideration.

''I was profoundly impressed by both the faith and determination of people in vigil," Meade said. ''I don't mean to diminish their cause or their effort. But the vigils didn't cause us to go to or away from these places."

Peter Borre -- cochairman of the Council of Parishes, an umbrella group that has helped numerous parishes facing closing -- said the number of closures that have been reversed suggests that the reorganization plan was fundamentally flawed from the start.

''It's possible in the months ahead that this entire process of reconfiguration will be found to have been problematic," Borre said.

Terrence C. Donilon, O'Malley's spokesman, responded, ''You tell those parishes last night that were celebrating with balloons and champagne with great jubilation that this was wrong. This is not a time to fight; it is a time to heal."

Still, some parishioners had harsh words for the archbishop.

Margaret LoPilato, who was baptized and married at Mt. Carmel, said she's lost faith in O'Malley. ''God forgive me, but I have no use for him," she said. ''I'm heartbroken."

Joan Shepard, who has been keeping vigil at St. Therese, said, ''The archdiocese has created a spiritual death camp for the elderly and poor young people who are doing anything to be here. They have done nothing but completely ignore us. It's as if we don't exist."

Still others remain hopeful that the archbishop would change his mind and spare more parishes.

Esther Doherty sat in the pew at St. Terese yesterday where her family has attended services for 52 years and said she was buoyed by the reprieves delivered to five parishes. ''I wouldn't be sitting here, day after day, if I didn't have hope," she said.

Globe correspondents Russell Nichols and Kaitlin Thaney contributed to this report.Sarah Schweitzer can be reached at schweitzer@globe.com.