Our parish's big day gets a little coverage

End nears for church that hosts region's only Latin Mass
By Michael Kunzelman / Associated Press
Monday, May 30, 2005

BOSTON -- Dan Linnell drives from his home on Cape Cod to Boston's South End most Sundays so he can worship at Holy Trinity Church, the only congregation in the region that celebrates Mass in Latin.
Linnell's wife introduced him to Holy Trinity in 1996, when they started dating, and he immediately "fell in love" with the Latin Mass, which features Roman Catholic rituals, including Gregorian chants, that date back more than 1,500 years.
"I started crying I was so moved," the 41-year-old recalled as he entered the church with his three young children in tow after an hourlong drive from Sandwich. "For me, it's what Catholic worship is. It's just beautiful, and it edifies the soul."
Yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of Holy Trinity's Latin Mass, which is the only service of its kind sanctioned by the Boston Archdiocese. Barring a change of heart by the archdiocese, there won't be a 16th.
Holy Trinity is one of 20 parishes that the archdiocese intends to close in the coming weeks and months as part of a broader cost-cutting plan to close 80 of its 357 parishes.
With Holy Trinity scheduled to close June 30, the archdiocese plans to move its Latin Mass to St. James the Greater in nearby Chinatown.
Parishioners are upset they have to leave the historic church, which was founded in 1844 to serve German immigrants. It's the only German-Catholic congregation in New England.
John Fahey, 49, of Boston, said the Holy Trinity is an oasis for several hundred Catholics who prefer to worship in a more conservative, traditional manner.
The church is "totally financially self-sustaining," he added. "There is no reason why it should be closed by the archdiocese."
Archdiocese spokesman Terry Donilon said that although the church closings have been hard for parishioners to accept, the process has "strengthened the Catholic community" in other ways.
"The vast majority of parishioners have moved on and done so in a very spiritual and prayerful manner," he said.
Mass was celebrated in Latin across the world until the mid-1960s, when the Second Vatican Council ruled it could be celebrated in native languages. Twenty years later, however, Pope John Paul II granted permission for it to be celebrated in Latin again.
Once a month since the Latin Mass returned to Holy Trinity in 1990, Michael Ferry drives 75 miles from his home in Ogunquit, Maine, to sing in the church's choir, which recites Gregorian chants.
"People come here because this is the Mass as it was in 1962," he said. "It's more traditional."
Susan Long said she left the Catholic church as a teenager because she disagreed with the changes made by the Second Vatican Council.
"When I came back, I came back because of this Mass," she said. "I'd like it to stay here, but my faith is in my heart. Wherever they move it, it's not going to change my faith."
It has been a tumultuous month for parishioners at Holy Trinity.
Earlier this month, worshippers at the church protested its imminent closing by withholding money for a special collection. Instead, they placed fake bills in the collection baskets.
Holy Trinity also is coping with a brewing financial scandal. Parishioners have asked state and archdiocesan officials to investigate allegations that their pastor, the Rev. Hugh O'Regan, mismanaged the church's finances, which they say may have influenced the archdiocese's decision to close it. O'Regan did not immediately return a call to comment.