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RELIGION

Judge orders parishioners to vacate closed church after Catholic archdiocese sues for eviction

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    In this Tuesday, May 5, 2015 photo, Marc Dean, a parishioner who has been in vigil at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church for the past five years, leaves after his shift is over, in Scituate, Mass. A Massachusetts judge on Thursday, May 14, 2015, has ordered parishioners of the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church to end their 11-year protest vigil and vacate the now-closed Roman Catholic church. In his ruling, Superior Court Judge Edward Leibensperger said the parishioners are "unlawfully and intentionally" trespassing at the church in Scituate. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia) (The Associated Press)

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    In this Tuesday, May 5, 2015 photo, Kip Ahern, left, and Veronica Tutunjian talk as they hold vigil in the lobby of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church, in Scituate, Mass. A Massachusetts judge on Thursday, May 14, 2015, has ordered parishioners of the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church to end their 11-year protest vigil and vacate the now-closed Roman Catholic church. In his ruling, Superior Court Judge Edward Leibensperger said the parishioners are "unlawfully and intentionally" trespassing at the church in Scituate. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia) (The Associated Press)

DEDHAM, Mass. – A Massachusetts judge has ordered parishioners of the St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church to end their 11-year protest vigil and vacate the now-closed Roman Catholic church.

In a ruling Thursday, Superior Court Judge Edward Leibensperger said the parishioners are "unlawfully and intentionally" trespassing at the church in Scituate (SIT'-choo-it).

He said they will be barred from entering the church effective May 29.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church was among dozens closed in a 2004 restructuring to address the Archdiocese of Boston's debt. But a group of parishioners has been holding a nonstop vigil inside the church ever since.

The archdiocese gave the group a March 9 deadline to leave. When parishioners refused, it took them to court.

Spokespeople for the archdiocese and the protest group did not immediately comment.
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