Church closures affect wedding plans in Boston

Boston, Mass., Apr 27, 2004 / 22:00 pm

They’ve confirmed the guest list, the catering and the flowers, but couples scheduled to get married in the Archdiocese of Boston will soon have to confirm the church.

Archbishop Sean O’Malley plans to announce a significant number of parish closings next month, just as wedding season gets underway, which may mean that a large number of weddings will have to be relocated to other churches.

It's not clear how many weddings will be forced to move since the archdiocese has not yet decided how many churches will be closed.

The closures are necessary due the decrease in mass attendance, priests and contributions. Local church leaders have already submitted their recommendations for church closures to the archbishop.

Spokesman Fr. Christopher Coyne said the archdiocese is concerned about helping people find churches for their upcoming celebrations.

The archdiocese yesterday called on priests to assist brides and grooms, who will be affected by the closures, in finding alternative churches.

As well, each of the 357 parishes were asked to submit to the archdiocese a schedule of upcoming weddings and other important events, such as anniversary celebrations. This list would enable archdiocesan officials to help people find alternative churches as well, said Coyne.