Is your parish on the list of churches that may close? If so, why do you think it should or shouldn't be closed?
Read the story: 60 churches will close in Boston archdiocese
Special report: Parish closings

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It had to happen. The Church as a body of people has changed. So must its infrastructure. The outpouring of emotion is understandable, however, nowhere is it written in the Gospels that the Church has anything at all to do with buildings and land. Nowhere is it written that Catholics are to put their faith in preists. Faith must be in God alone.

Jim, Allston

The news of my church's closing came in an email from our religious education office. I am truly saddened and upset by this news. We are a vibrant church community who has come together to create a wonderful place to worship. As a religious education teacher, I feel those most effected by this closing will of course be our children, who are a vital part of this wonderful community. I only hope that our faith will take us forward to a new beginning and that we learn some valuable lessons from this tragic situation. God bless all of you!

Karen, Framingham

Slam!!! That is the sound of the big thick wooden doors slamming shut for the last time. Slam!!! Slam!!! For the last time, slam!!! One by one!! Slam!! Close the chapter!! Hopefully, that is also the sound of a new beginning for the victims of the Catholic Church. Your lives probably were deeply effected in a negative way. None of this was your fault!! I hope you can move past this autrocity and live the rest of your lives with inner-peace. I pray that you can. Shame on you Catholic molesters!! Shame on you leaders of the Catholic church. You get what you deserve! Slam!!

Paul, Portsmouth

It's sad that the innocent parishoners have to be put through this for the evil sins of some priests in the catholic church. Bishop O'Malley should take a good look at what a mess he has to manage and what he has created with these closings. If he can get this under control and bear the onslaught of new lawsuits that will follow, the Archdiocese in Boston may survive. There may come a day there is no Archdiocese of Boston. What a mess and a sad day. Truth always prevails and may be the demise of the Boston diocese. Time to pick up the phone and get the Vatican to fork over some of the gold they have vaulted up; the richest institution on earth sits there and watches American Catholicism collapse after we supported it all our lives. Oh, and please stop making judgment about human rights when the church is such a mess. When wil you learn this and manage your own mess before making judgment against other human beings? Human, equal rights for all mankind. Snap out of it!

Lenny, Providence

It's about time. The Catholic Church isn't changing with the times, it's time for it to close like anything else in this universe that can't adapt. I don't blame to local attendants or the local preist, I blame the Vatican and their lethal dogmatic views.

Jimmy, Medford

It IS right that churches with low attendance be closed. It IS right that the Catholic Church pay for covering up sexual abuse. It IS right that the places that have become a symbol of money, power, criminality, and abuse are closed forever. I was raised a Catholic, went to Catholic school, and still believe many of the teachings of the Church. However, the day I found out that some of my friends were raped by priests I vowed never again. I am planning on getting married soon, and although it will cause a major rift in my family I refuse to sanctify the beginning of a new family in a place where such horror took place. Catholics who still give to the Church need to prioritize. You can still be faithful and hold your faith without giving in to pressure. So what if your church closes? Its a building. Its whats inside your heart that counts.

E, West Roxbury, MA

Growing up my family moved many times. Between K and 1-8 and HS, I went to eight schools and worshiped in 5 parishes. In college and after marriage there were three more parishes. However, my wife and children only know two, where she grew up in Salem and when we moved to Peabody. It is understandable that some catholics will be upset not because they cannot receive the sacrements but because the parish was the extended family. It will truly be hard for some. I am glad to see that the Bishop took care where the parish had a school, but even then some did not survive. The good news is that more priests will be available and when the parish property is sold more money for the schools and hospitals. As Catholics we only evangelize (sp) through our schools. Our children are our future and we must prepare for them. This Bishop had the courage to see the problem and act.

Terry, Peabody, MA

I am saddened for all the individuals who go to the soon to be closing churches on a regular basis. On the other hand I am still shocked and appalled at the church as a whole as an institution with their close minded ways and how the decades and decades of abuse that happened and NOTHING was done. I am speechless that Cardinal Law is not in jail. He is just as guilty as all of the priests and nuns who perfomed all of the abuse.The Church needs to lighten up and let the men and women of the cloth lead normal HUMAN lives and allow them to have physical relationships and to get married. I truly believe if they were allowed, none of the abuse would have occurred. You ask yourselves why you can't find new priests? What the church asks of these people is inhuman. You really think these men and women are celibate? Think again. I know from personal experience many are not.

Ben, Boston

It would only compound today's tragedy if area Catholics could no longer hear the messages of their faith because of their frustration with the Church's messangers. Do not, please do not, confuse the two. Keep the faith!

Brad, Andover

As a former catholic, I'm not sad at all... Frankly, I find myself rejoicing when anything further weakens the church and exposes its true nature as an utterly corrupt entity. The term "abuse" doesn't just mean victims of sexual abuse by priests -- it extends to all of us who went to catholic school and were taught the church's abusive theology, as well those of us who struggle with the fact that so many people continue to accept that abusive theology and feel the need to perpetrate it on their fellow citizens. It's difficult to feel sorry for an institution that so efficiently and effectively abuses its power. We former catholics understand that the real power is found in leaving the church, and never looking back.

Melissa, Grafton