Two arrested in Mass. church vigil

SOUTH NATICK, Mass., Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Two parishioners attempting a vigil at Sacred Heart Parish in South Natick, Mass., were arrested Saturday for trespassing.

Five parishioners, protesting the diocese's decision to close Sacred Heart, had refused to leave the church, so the parish priest, the Rev. Joseph Slyva, called police and ordered them removed shortly before midnight, the Boston Globe reported.

Anne Green, one of the parishioners who begun a vigil inside the South Natick church after the conclusion of 6 p.m. Mass, said police arrived at midnight and ordered her and four other parishioners out of the church. She and fellow parishioner Leo Ryan were arrested.

"I could have left," she said. "But my conscience could not allow me to do that."