Judge says church protesters are trespassers, rejects their counterclaim for money spent on repairs
A Massachusetts judge has ruled that protesters who participated in an 11-year vigil at their shuttered church are trespassers who must leave by May 29.
Judge Edward Leibensperger of Norfolk County ruled Thursday in a suit for declaratory judgment by the Archdiocese of Boston, which decided to close the church in 2004, report the Associated Press and the Boston Globe. The archdiocese sued after the protesters, former parishioners of the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church, lost their bid to keep the church open with the highest Vatican court.
One or more members of the parishioners’ group have been present in the church 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Leibensperger rejected the protesters’ contention that the dispute is an ecclesiastical matter that can’t be handled by civil courts. He also dismissed the protesters’ counterclaim for $37,000 to cover money they have spent on repairs at the church. The ruling is here.
