The Boston archdiocese is going to court to fight an effort by local officials to impose real-estate taxes on a closed parish church.Town officials in Scituate, an affluent suburban community, have levied taxes on the building that once housed St. Francis Cabrini parish.
The parish was closed in 2004, as part of an archdiocesan retrenchment program.
But a small group of former parishioners has set up a vigil on the site, refusing to vacate the church building and organizing prayer services there.
Officials in Scituate say that although the archdiocese is not subject to property taxes, the church building is not covered by that exemption because it is not being used for religious purposed.
To support that contention, they observe that the archdiocese refused to allow a priest to preside at the former parishioners' prayer sessions.
Archdiocesan officials counter that the US Constitution protects the authority of religious institutions to set their own policies, and argue that the Church should be immune from efforts by politicians to use tax policy to influence religious authorities. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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