Parishioners of St. James the Great, the Wellesley church on Rte. 9 that was shuttered by a reeling Archdiocese of Boston in 2004, have lost their final appeal to the Vatican, according to a Boston Herald report.
The Herald quotes a law consultant who says that the Pope himself would need to step in if a miraculous reversal were to take place at this point for two other churches whose appeals were shot down by the Vatican (he is not quoted specifically regarding the Wellesley church).
St. James the Great parishioners kept their church alive via a vigil for 7-plus years following a final mass held on Halloween of 20o4. The Archdiocese entered an agreement in 2012 to transfer ownership of the 8-acre property to the town of Wellesley for $3.8 million. An extension of that agreement was approved by Town Meeting this year.
As we mentioned on Friday in a post about the North 40 property that the town is considering for purchase, there were rumblings in recent weeks that a St. James decision was imminent. The swimming pool, playing fields and so forth that the town has targeted for the St. James space are now being discussed as a possibility for the North 40.
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