Friday, November 16, 2007

Report critical of St. Mary's sale

Two reports that the Archdiocese of Boston commissioned to review the closing and sale of parishes are sharply critical of many of the transactions, including the sale of St. Mary's Star of the Sea Church in East Boston.

Today's Boston Globe quotes retired judge Kevin M. Herlihy, who looked into the St. Mary's affair, as saying the diocese actions "arguably constituted malfeasance, a dereliction of duty." The church, at the corner of Saratoga and Moore streets, was sold for $800,000 to a local photographer last November and then "flipped," or resold, three weeks later to an evangelical congregation for $2.65 million.

The diocese response -- "there were mistakes" in the handling of the East Boston sale but said "no one here benefited from those mistakes" -- translates as, "We were not underhanded, just stupid."

The story on the Boston.com web site includes links to copies of that report, as well as one on the handling of church closings throughout the diocese.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Keep up the good work.