BishopAccountability.org
	Vatican: Diocese Can't Automatically Seize Parish Assets Church Must Ask Pastors to Turn over Accounts TheBostonChannel.com [Boston MA] August 11, 2005 BOSTON -- Opponents of the church closing plan in the Archdiocese of Boston have found an unlikely ally -- the Vatican. NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported Thursday that a ruling from Rome said Archbishop Sean O'Malley does not have the authority to seize financial assets from churches he's shut down. Mt. Carmel Church in East Boston has been in vigil since last October. An appeal to the Vatican is pending, following an order from the Archdiocese of Boston to shut down and send its members to Sacred Heart Parish about a mile away. Members say the Vatican's declaration that millions of dollars in assets from certain parishes that have been ordered closed cannot be taken by the archdiocese is a decision that should apply to Mt. Carmel. "Everything in here was done by the parishioners, so therefore, it should stay with the parishioners. And so, therefore, our goal is not to have our assets transferred to another church," parishioner Gina Scalcione said. A statement from the chancery explains it as a difference in interpretation of canon law. "The archdiocese is now in conversation with the Holy See to find a resolution to these conflicting canonical interpretations," the statement said. There are at least seven other closed parishes with active appeals that are affected by the Vatican ruling, which suggests that one way to resolve the problem is to have pastors from the receiving parish voluntarily agree to turn the money over to the archdiocese. "What we're seeing now with this improvisation, which has got to be an embarrassment, is that this is all about the money, and it is selling churches and closing parishes to feed the archdiocese itself. And frankly, that's a bad feeling that a lot of us have had about this exercise throughout. And we're reaching the point where the leadership of this archdiocese is proving itself to be dysfunctional," Council of Parishes spokesman Peter Borre said.