Boston Catholic Churches: Big tab still rises at shut churches

The Boston Globe reports:

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston says it is spending $880,000 a year to maintain 14 churches that it has tried to close but are occupied by protesters, tied up in litigation, or restricted because of appeals to the Vatican.

The cash-strapped archdiocese says it is shelling out the cash to heat, insure, and maintain the buildings, five of which have been occupied by protesters, in some cases for more than three years. The others are vacant, but the archdiocese has been unable to sell or reuse the properties because they are tied up in civil lawsuits or canon law appeals.

Compounding the archdiocese's money woes, the sale of closed parishes has generated just $62.7 million - far less than the several hundred million once anticipated - and most of the sale revenue has already been spent to shore up various church funds and assist existing parishes with operating and construction costs, the archdiocesan chancellor reported in an e-mail to priests. In addition, Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley has pledged to spend $2.5 million on the new consolidated Catholic school in Brockton, said James P. McDonough, chancellor of the archdiocese.