BOSTON (MA)
National Catholic Reporter
By CHUCK COLBERT
Boston
At a much anticipated meeting with the presbyterate here, Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley told as many as 600 diocesan priests that consolidation of the archdiocese’s 357 parishes will be “a painful undertaking.”
The meeting, which was closed to the public and the media, took place on the campus of Boston College Dec 16. The Boston Globe reported that the college’s Robsham Theatre Arts Center was packed, with standing room only.
Announcements of some church closings could come as early as June 1, O’Malley said. Previously, decisions to close churches have taken years. But O’Malley said he hopes to make parish-closing decisions and announce them within a year.
“The upside of closing parishes is that surviving parishes should be stronger,” he said after meeting with priests, at a separate press briefing held across the street from the campus at nearby St. John’s Seminary.
