The Roman Catholic Archdiocese's decision to close a number of city churches may have been inevitable, but it doesn't make for very good PR for the Catholic Church, especially when you see distraught parishioners being led from a church, handcuffed for trespassing. Last night, six female parishioners at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in East Harlem were arrested after holding a vigil to protest the church's closure. One of the parishioners, Carmen Villegas, told WABC 7, "If you experience going to your home, and that your locks have been changed, you feel that you have been evicted from your home. So when I saw the changing of those locks, I feel evicted from my home."
The protest started when some parishioners stayed in the church after Sunday mass; it grew to a few dozen people and included many elderly people. Referring to the security guards the church hired during the vigil, City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito said to the NY Times, "The archdiocese is quick to hire private security, but they can’t have a dialogue with their parishioners, and it’s really shameful and unfortunate." While the locksmiths changed locks on a side and bathroom doors, most parishioners only left after the police delivered an ultimatum "Leave or be arrested."
