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>> And yet the Bishops are closing and selling a huge number of small and midsize parishes to raise money to pay off lawyers. <<

I've lived in Boston. Believe me, those churches are dead. I'd go to a high-noon mass. There would be me, the priest, the lecter, a few old ladies, and a very big, fat fly you can't help noticing because it's the only form of life.

Go figure; child-raping perverts preaching statism from the altar don't effectively maintain church attendance. Who'd've thought? (/sarcasm)
The growth is outside of the cities like Boston where the church-closings are.

Now, of course, it is criminal if churches are being sold off for the money. On the other hand, if they are shutting down the parish and leaving the church for an oratory, that is unfortunate, but understandable given the absence of congregations.

I've lived in Boston. Believe me, those churches are dead.

This is not true in rural areas. I am from rural Ohio and know of several small parishes that are being consolidated, closed and closed for the money.

These parishes are small but active. The members (many elderly) now will have to drive many miles to attend services.

In reference to the Church closings I think demographic shifts are the biggest problems in the older, east coast cities. The 2nd and 3rd generation Irish, Portugese, Italians etc have made it out of the cities and into the suburbs.

I know that in Boston they are having a terrible time with the Catholic schools because the schools are all inner city and the people are in the burbs.

My church, St. Francis of Assisi, is being closed by Egan. A number of closings and consolidations were announced via leaks to the press in a carefully orchestrated media blitz (thanks Joe Zwilling official archdiocesan media strategist and all around henchman), a simple communique to the affected parish priests was considered unnecessary by these clerical thugs.

St Francis, located in Newburgh, NY, is a thriving parish. It has one of the largest food pantry programs outside of Manhattan feeding nearly five hundred poor families weekly. It has all its debts paid, it takes nothing from the Archdiocese, it helps fund the local parochial school, it has been renovated-no railing usage but otherwise orthodox and traditional-and, surprise, surprise, it's got a million dollar endowment. Talk about a calculated corporate raid! It meets none of the criteria for closing except the bloated bureacracy downtown needs the green stuff, cold hard cash-that's what they are after. Nevermind that the parish priest, Father John Vandross is a faithful, orthodox priest who has provided excellent stewardship of his parish. And hears frequent confessions and offers Eucharistic exposition. Well actually all the aforementioned must have put him at the top of the hit list. I mean, faithful, orthodox, a good shepherd? Bring Egan that priest's head. V's wife.