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Catholic church near Boston holds final service as vigil ends

By Allen Cone
The final service was conducted at St. Frances X. Cabrini Church on Sunday after an around-the-clock vigil lasted more than 11 years. Photo by Friends of St. Frances/Facebook
The final service was conducted at St. Frances X. Cabrini Church on Sunday after an around-the-clock vigil lasted more than 11 years. Photo by Friends of St. Frances/Facebook

SCITUATE, Mass., May 29 (UPI) -- Churchgoers said goodbye Sunday morning to the Catholic house of worship they attempted to keep open with round-the-clock vigils for more than 11 years.

The final service was conducted at St. Frances X. Cabrini Church after all their legal options ended.

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Parishioners had occupied the church 2004 after the Boston Archdiocese attempted to sell the waterfront property. At least one parishioner was inside the church 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

"It's so emotional," one parishioner told WBZ NewsRadio 1030. "We've been here from day one at the vigil with my son and my mom. It's been three generations doing the vigil, but we'll move on. It's a new day for us."

Another churchgoer said, "I think back to receiving communion here, getting married here, burying my mother here. It's hard."

They stood their ground despite a series of legal decisions.

A Norfolk Superior Court judge ruled they did not have a right to the church. The state Appeals Court agreed, finding the group was trespassing.

The Friends of St. Frances then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case.

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"We've always tried to compromise," spokeswoman Maryellen Rogers said of negotiations with the archdiocese. "The value of the land is so much more than the value of the faithful of St. Frances to them."

But after the ruling, the group agreed to leave the church for good.

Rogers, who called the vigil a "revolution of faith," said the local Masonic Lodge will be providing space to the parishioners and they plan to raise enough money to build their own church.

The church sits on 30 acres along the waterfront worth about $4 million.

The church likely will be torn down.

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